Orphaned Heart-Broken Heart (My WCTH Story)
by AbigailStantonWCTH
Summary: A young girl without a family and a lady with a broken heart. Can they help each other to heal?
1. Prologe (Meet the Girl)

Prologue

The air smelt fresh and clean of the mourning of that fateful day. Hardly a thing stirred. The rabbits were still asleep in their burrows and birds were still asleep in their nests. As the sun began to creep up over the horizon, the forest began to stir with life. A deer began to eat grass with her new fawn and a bird returned to his nest with a worm for his family.

The forest was peaceful and quiet. There was hardly any noise. The only thing that interrupted the quiet stillness of the morning was a girl riding on a big, beautiful white horse. The girl looked like a fairy princess on top of that delicate mare. The girl was looking intently at the ground as her horse moved quietly over the leaves and branches. She looked about 11 or 12 years of age with golden brown hair that shone in the sunlight and a light brown complexion of a person that spent a lot of time in the outdoors.

She and the horse moved as one, softly, slowly, soundlessly. She found what she was looking for and gently got off the horse and lifted her rifle up. The turkey in the bushes walked about, not knowing she was there. The girl took careful aim, she was about to fire when a huge boom and loud rumbles came from the mountain that the coal mine was in. The horse reared and the girl screamed with fright as the ground shook. Then all was very quiet and still again…..


	2. Chapter 1 (Josie)

Chapter 1

* * *

Morning. Josephine Blackwell was awake before sunrise, her eyes red and puffy. She looked across the room to the bed that only three days before had held the feverish body of her mother, Georgia. Georgia had punctured her leg badly on an old rusty nail that was poking out of a wooden door cupboard and had gotten tetanus. When her mother had realised what it actually was, it was too late.

Josie remembered her rush into town five days ago, to get the company doctor, but he wasn't around. Kat Montgomery had done all she could, but it wasn't enough. Her mom had passes away on Sunday afternoon, with Kat, Josie, Luke and the Reverend Anderson by her side. They had held her funeral on Monday.

She remembered being at the service, but she didn't hear much of it. She had been too busy sobbing, and her father had his own things to deal with concerning his wife's death. He had been depressed ever since his son had drowned in the lake. The lake had been quite high for most of the summer and Ben had gone swimming with his friends one hot afternoon, with Josie there to watch him.

Ben had swum out to far into the current and was swept away before anyone could save him. Josie had leapt in after him, but by the time she had got him to the river bank, he was dead. Josie remembered her mother crying the rest of the day and into the night. But the next morning, she carried on as if nothing had happened. That was only two months ago, and then Georgia also joined her son three days ago.

Josie rolled over in her bed and groaned, the fire had died down and was nearly completely out. She got up quietly, because her father, Luke, was still asleep. She put more wood onto the coals and crept out the door. It was only 4:30 in the morning. She grabbed the milking buckets that were by the door and a lantern. Lassie, her dog was asleep by the door, but when she heard it open, she got up and followed her master out to the barn.

* * *

Josie opened the big barn door and lit up the lanterns, then she went to milk the cow and goat. She went over to the goat first.

"Hey, Daisy" She said, placing the grain and hay into the goat's manger. Daisy didn't care about Josie, she was more worried about what she was having for breakfast. Josie got her onto the milking stand and milked the goat out. Then, she led Daisy out into the paddock with the other goats that were dry and went back to milk Rosie, the cow. Rosie was in an especially good mood this morning. Usually Josie hated milking her because she would kick the pail over and try to kick Josie. But today she didn't.

When the bucket was almost overflowing, Josie got up and took the bucket to the bench that was by the door. She got the cat's milk dish, by this time the barn cats had awoken and were purring around her, waiting for their milk. Josie didn't mind their attention and went back over to the cow. A black and white cat came over and sat down beside the cow, waiting patiently for she knew Josie would squirt the milk in her direction.

The dish full, Josie squirted the milk towards pussy. Pussy opened her mouth and caught it. Josie did it a few more times, then she took the pan and put it down on the floor outside the stall.

"Here Kit, Kit" she called. The cats needed no more coaxing and came eagerly for their milk. Then she got the cow, untied her and lead her out to the pasture to join the goats. Josie went back to the barn and picked up the full milk pails and got some eggs from the chickens before she went to the house. She went back into the house to make her breakfast and her dad's lunch.

Josie hadn't spoken much to her father since her mother's funeral and so she thought she would write him a note to place in his lunch pail, so she went over to the desk and sat down to write.

 _Dear Pa,_

 _I have hardly spoken to you since Ma's funeral. What has happened has been terrible but we still have each other. Please don't shut me out. We need each other to help one another._

 _Can we please have a talk when you get home?_

 _Love,_

 _Your little butterfly._

Josie finished writing and placed the note on top of his food in his lunch pail. She smiled as she pulled out the photo her father always carried in his pail. The photo was of his family at the start of the year, when they were still all together. She placed it back in the bucket as the door to the bedroom opened.

* * *

Luke had a hard time those days after his son, Ben, had died. He and his wife Georgia had waited such a long time to have him, that they had formally adopted Josie when they were living in Hamilton. When Georgia had found out that she was to have a baby, she was so excited to have a child of her own, and when Ben was born and growing up, they pushed Josie aside and Ben became their favourite.

When Luke moved his family to Coal Valley to escape bad debts in Hamilton, he had brought an old, run down ranch and brought over the horses he had in Hamilton to breed them for racing and had also taken a job at the mine so that he could have an income while his horses were in training. Georgia had not wanted to leave Hamilton with all its comforts and move to a poor mining community, but she had no choice and so they had come to Coal Valley when Josie was only five years old and Ben was three.

Ben made friends with the boys and one day in the summer when he was 8 they invited him to go to the lake with them. The lake had been very high that summer and when Ben went with his friends, Josie went with them. Gabe and James were out swimming and Ben had tried to follow them and he was swept away. Josie saw him struggling in the water and leapt in, but he drowned.

Luke and Georgia had in their grief, blamed Josie for his death, and Josie had withdrawn from them and blocked them out in her anger and confusion to why they were treating her that way.

Luke knew that he had to tell Josie the truth, that he and Georgia was not her real parents, but he didn't know how to do it. When they had adopted Josie, they had agreed that when one of them passed on, the other would tell Josie. Luke just didn't know it would be so soon… He knew now that he would have to tell her, but he didn't know how… He got up, got dressed and went out for breakfast.

* * *

"Morning Pa." Josie said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Mourning Butterfly." her father replied, giving her a hug.

"Breakfast is ready." She announced, pulling away from him to check the pancakes. Her father just looked at her, waiting for her to explain her weird behaviour. Josie was fighting back tears, why did her pa carry on like nothing had happened? But she quickly regained her composure.

"I didn't want the pancakes to burn." She explained, pulling the pan off the stove and placed them onto a plate. As she turned around she got the picture of cream and placed them onto the table.

The table was already set and her father was already seated, so she served up the food and sat down. "Pa, would you say the blessing?" She asked.

Her father bowed his head. "Thank you God for this food, bless the hands that made it and may it nourish us, Amen."

"Amen." Josie repeated, picking up her fork and she began to eat. She ate some of her food and then tried to make conversation with her father. "Another early day at the mine?"

"Yes, again." He replied.

"I made your lunch."

"Thanks darling. What is it?" Luke asked.

"Well, I made you two sandwiches, put an apple in, some apple pie and a little surprise." Josie replied. Not only had she put in the note she had written, but also some muffins that she had made the day before, trying to please her father.

"Well, I'll look forward to having lunch then!" Her dad exclaimed.

Josie got up and put another log on the fire. The sun was already starting to peek over the mountain tops and she knew it would not be long before her dad would leave for work.

"Dad, do you think I could get a turkey for dinner?"

"Well, I know that about two miles a little southwest, there were signs of turkeys being there recently. If you are quiet, you could probably get one." Her dad replied, whipping his mouth. "Would you like some help cleaning up, sweetheart?"

"Sure, that would be a great help." Josie replied, picking up the dirty dishes. Her dad got up and helped. The two of them worked in the kitchen in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts. Her father was about to leave for work when Josie broke the silence. "How about we ride together to the mine on Bonny Dell, then I can go get a turkey."

"Okay, if you are quick." Luke replied.

Josie needed no other encouragement and ran out the door, hair flying behind her, whistling for Bonny as she ran to the stable. Luke got his lunch pail and followed his adopted daughter at a slower pace. "Just like my wife, always running, never stopping." He whispered to himself.

Lassie trotted up to Josie as she got the saddle and bridle out of the stable. "No, Lass, you can't come today. Stay and watch the house with Wolf"

Lassie left Josie and went back to the house. She laid down on the veranda with her head resting on her paws. Bonny was already at the horse paddock gate, waiting, when Josie walked out with her tack. Her father came over and waited for her. "Oh drat, I forgot the rifle! Pa, can you please go back and fetch it please?"

"Okay." He replied and putting down his lunch, he went back to the house. When her returned, Bonny was tacked up and Josie was sitting in the saddle. Luke placed the rifle into the scabbard that was part of the saddle and leapt up behind Josie.

"Ready?" Josie asked.

"Ready" He replied.

"Git up, Bon." Josie commanded her horse. Bonny shook her head and went into her slow, mile eating canter.

* * *

The two miles to the mine were covered quickly and they got there in good time. Josie stopped Bonny in front of the hitching post for the horses. Luke dismounted first, and Josie jumped down after him.

She unhooked the lunch pail off the saddlehorn and gave it to her dad. Luke bent over and gave Josie a hug and a kiss. "Love you, Darling." He told her.

"I love you to, Pa." Josie replied. Letting go of her dad as the steam whistle blew, announcing the start of work. She turned and went back to Bonny and mounted. As she turned her mount around, she saw Noah Stanton and his son, Peter. She gave them a teeny tiny sad smile and a little wave. They smiled back to her. "Have a good day, Josie." Noah said.

"You too, Mr. Stanton. Git up, Bonny." Josie commanded. Bonny wheeled around and went into a fast canter back towards to the forest….


	3. Chapter 2 (Abigail)

**How is everyone enjoying my story. I just wanted to note that my favourite characters are Abigail, Bill, Pastor Frank and Clara, so these people will have a more prominent play in this story.**

 **Josie Blackwell is my own creation of my imagination as are a few other people you will read about later.**

 **Enjoy chapter 2**

Chapter 2

Abigail Stanton anxiously peered out the window into the pitch-black darkness. It was getting late. She turned away from the window to look at the clock. It was just after 8 o'clock. "Noah, and Peter should have been home by now." She said out loud to no one. Peter had been sent to Cape Fullerton to get supplies and yesterday Noah also had ridden out to meet him and to get some things that weren't on the list. They were supposed to be back this afternoon before dark and now the sun had been set for a little less than two hours.

She was still pacing the room an hour later when the door opened and in walked peter And Noah. Abigail ran over to them and gave her husband a kiss. "I was worried sick about you too." She exclaimed.

"Sorry, Honey, the wagon had a wheel come off and we had a hard getting the wheel back on." Noah replied, holding Abigail close.

"I have some dinner that I saved for the both of you, if you want you."

Peter spoke up. "I don't know about you, pa, but I think I would fall asleep eating. I'm going to hit the hay." He gave his Ma a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight son." Abigail and Noah said at the same time. They laughed at this coincidence and went over to the couch. As Noah sat down on the chair beside his wife he spoke. "How has things been?"

"Well, not much has happened although we did get a reply from the Superintendent of Schools, he is sending us a teacher by the name of Elizabeth Thatcher. She will arrive here in a few weeks. How did your trip go?"

"Okay," He groaned, "Except for the wagon wheel incident and me coming off the horse I was riding. I think I am getting to old to ride a horse that likes to buck." He chuckled.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, Darling, I'm fine." He assured her "But i think I am going to hit the hay to." He said, rising to go.

"Alright, I'll join you soon." Abigail replied as her husband walked out of the room. She sat on the lounge _. "Peter didn't say much to me today, normally he is very talkative, I wonder what is going on with him"_ she thought as she placed another log onto the fire, _"Maybe he is just growing up..."_

* * *

Abigail was up before sunrise the next morning, preparing breakfast for her husband and son. She got some eggs from the icebox as well as some milk so she could make some scrambled eggs. She also got some biscuits that she had made the day before and heated them up. Breakfast was almost ready when Noah came out "Morning Sweetie." He said giving her a kiss.

"Morning, breakfast in nearly ready" She replied, going back to the stove. "Is Peter up yet?"

"I think so, I heard some noise from his room, I'll go and check on him."

"Okay, thank you." Abigail replied, getting the food onto the plates. When Noah returned with Peter, Abigail was about to put the food on the table. "Sorry I'm late. I slept in." Peter said.

"That's okay, I knew you would be tired." Abigail replied, putting the plates on the table. Noah pulled out Abigail's chair for her and she sat down. When Noah and Peter were seated, Abigail said the blessing. "Thank you, Lord, that we are all together, please bless this food and may it nourish us. Amen"

Noah and Peter joined Abigail in saying "Amen"

As they ate breakfast Abigail noticed that Noah and Peter were unusually quiet. "Is something troubling you, Noah?" She asked, concerned.

"Not really, just the usual trouble with Gowan." Noah replied, not wanting Abigail to know about the argument that he, Gowan, peter and Luke had two weeks ago. That argument had Noah thinking about it a lot recently but he kept his thoughts to himself and tried to be cheerful. "How is Luke and Josie?"

"As well as can be expected with what has happened to Georgia." Abigail replied, with sadness in her voice.

"What happened?" Peter asked.

"Georgia Blackwell passed away on Sunday from tetanus. She had pierced her leg deep with a rusty nail and didn't realized that tetanus had set in until it was too late, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you." Noah apologized.

"That's okay. Wasn't it their son that drowned in the lake few months back?"

"Yes, unfortunately, Ben was Georgia and Luke's favourite, they both changed after he passed. It was like they had forgotten that they still had a daughter too." Abigail sounded sad.

Peter wished he hadn't asked that question. "May I have some more biscuits please?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Sure." Abigail replied, getting up and taking Peter's plate, she walked over and gave him the last two."

"Thanks Ma. You're the best cook in Coal Valley."

"Thanks Peter." Abigail accepted the complement, although she was blushing.

"Well, hurry and eat son, we have a busy day ahead of us." Noah said, rising from his chair.

"Coming." Peter replied, stuffing the last biscuit into his mouth. He grabbed the two lunch pails and went over to the door where Noah and Abigail were.

"Be carefull." Abigail cautioned, giving Noah and Peter a hug each.

"We'll be fine." Noah replied, giving her a kiss. "Come on son." He said, opening the door. "After you." Peter and Noah walked out and Noah shut the door.

Abigail walked to the window and watched them walk down the road to the mine with the other miners. She couldn't shack the feeling that something bad was going to happen. "Oh, well." She said as she went to wash the dishes. When she finished she turned around and looked at the clock, she would have to hurry, if she was going to make it on time to teach school….


	4. Chapter 3 (The Mine)

**Sorry guys, this is going to be a long chapter!**

Chapter 3

As Bonny cantered down the track, Josie was looking all around for signs of any animals being in the area. "Whoa." Josie commanded. She got off and looked at the animal tracks in the dirt. They were either prairie chickens or some other small bird. They weren't turkey, because they were too small.

Josie turned around and put her foot in the stirrup and swung up, folding her skirt as she landed in the saddle. She pulled the rifle from its holder and held it on her lap. She took the reins in one hand. "Easy, Bonny." She instructed. Bonny slowly followed the tracks of the animal, pausing every now and then to sniff them so she could be certain she was following them. They went down a small gully and crossed the little creek it contained.

As they came out the other side, Josie slowed her mount even further. They were getting close to her prey. She softly got out of the saddle and jumped down. Then she dropped the reins on the ground and ground tied Bonny Dell and followed the tracks to a hedge. She pulled some of the branches aside and looked through to the other side. There was what she was looking for. A small prairie hen was pecking at the grass. Josie aimed the rifle and shot. The hen never felt or heard a thing. Josie re-loaded the rifle, then she walked over to the hen and picked it up. _"This will do for breakfast in the morning."_ She thought, holding it up to inspect it. The bullet had gone straight through the birds head. She was glad that her father had taught her how to shoot, and shoot accurately, because she was now going to do most of the hunting as her Pa was taking on more shifts in the mine.

Josie walked back to Bonny, who was waiting patiently right where she had left her. She got some rawhide string to tie the hen to the saddle horn and then he placed the rifle back into the holder. Then she bleed the bird and tied it to the saddle horn, grabbed Bonny's reins and led her out of the thicket. She looked at the sun. It was getting near lunch time, then she remembered. _"SCHOOL!"_ "OH, BOTHER!" she exclaimed, startling a sparrow that was in the tree. " _Oh, well, I won't be going back to school for a little while yet anyway."_

When she was back onto the trail she jumped back into Bonny's saddle and told her to walk on. After a mile or so and no more signs of turkeys, Josie got Bonny into a canter. She would go to the creek that ran at the back of the ranch. When she got there, she found some turkey tracks and began to follow them.

Sure enough, the tracks belonged to an old cock. Josie looked at him, he was big enough to make dinner and lunch for tomorrow. _"Lunch!"_ She looked at the sun, it was overhead now. She told her stomach to be quiet and settle down. She could not afford to lose this game. Josie lifted the rifle and took most careful aim.

There was a huge boom and loud, angry rumbles from the mountain the coal mine was in. Josie was so scared as the ground shook that she didn't realize the gun was loaded. The gun went off and she screamed. Bonny reared and neighed loudly in surprise and fear. Then all was still, quiet and peaceful again. Josie looked up and wondered what had caused it. The she realized she had shoot the turkey. She went over to it and nudged it with her boot. It didn't move and she picked it and bled it. As she walked back to her horse she realized that what her father had said would happen had happened. She ran to Bonny and threw herself and the turkey onto her back. She quickly tied the bird to the saddle horn and put the rifle back into the scabbed. Then she kicked and gave Bonny a hard whack on the rump "Yah, YAH!" She screamed.

Bonny was so surprised by her riders actions that she reared up and launched herself forward into a fast, wild gallop. Josie could barely see through her tears and so she commanded Bonny to take her straight to the mine. The white mare, sensing the urgency, galloped faster…

* * *

"Alright children." Abigail called. "Lunch break is over."

It was lunch recess time at the school in Coal Valley and the boys were playing baseball and the girls were playing hopscotch and skipping rope. They were laughing happily as they came in from playing.

"Oh, Man." James complained under his breath as the kids went into the church. He threw down the baseball bat and started to walk into the church/school. As James walked into the school, Abigail stopped him.

"Do you have something to say?" She asked.

"No, mam." Came James's reply.

"Well, I think you have a lot to say, sooo you can start the reading for the afternoon. And," She added as James's was about to complain "And you can do it happily!" After all the children had walked into the school, Abigail closed the door. "Alright children, James will start the reading for today. James, please start from page 27."

James stood up and opened the book. He cleared his throat, trying to avoid reading as long as he could.

"Anytime, like now, you can start reading." Abigail was getting a little annoyed at his behaviour.

James stared at her and started to read "The day dawned bright and cheery…" He didn't get to finish his sentence. There was a loud roar and the whole church shook.

"Children, under the tables!" Abigail screamed above the noise of the glass window shattering. They quickly obeyed her order, moving together to under the safety of the desks.

Then, just as suddenly as the noise and shacking came, it went. "Is everyone alright?" Abigail asked as she came out from under the teacher's desk, glass falling off her dress.

"Yes, Mrs. Stanton." Came the reply as the children clubbed out from under the safety of their tables.

"What was that?" Emily asked, carefully stepping over the glass to get to Mrs. Stanton.

"OH NO." Gabe screamed. "The MINE!"

* * *

Noah and Luke were having their lunch in the privacy of the mine, so that they could talk in private.

"How's Josie coping with her Ma dying?" Noah asked with deep sympathy.

"As well as can be expected, considering." His voice trailed off as he grabbed his lunch pail. He pulled the cloth covering off. There was the note that Josie had written to him. He opened it and read what it contained.

"What have you got for lunch?" Noah asked, not noticing that Luke was reading. "Oh, what's that?"

"Oh, just a note from Josie. Poor darling." Then answering the first question. "Two beef sandwiches an apple, apple pie, and" he said pulling out the last little package "Muffins! Cheeky girl, she must have made them yesterday when I was here at work. Although Ben used to make me lovely cookies. Man, I do miss him and his cookies. What do you have"

"Well, Abigail packed me some cookies, sandwiches and some fruit. Would you like a cookie?" Noah asked, holding one out to Luke "Abigail makes the best." He added.

"Sure, you can have a muffin too." Luke replied, exchanging the food with Noah. He took a bite out of the cookie. "Mmm, I can see what you mean about the cookies, they are delicious." He said, taking a bite of Josie's muffin to compare it to.

"Josie's muffin isn't so bad either. Was that her mother's recipe?"

"Yes, although Josie might have added to it." He replied, pulling a strand of light brown hair out of his muffin.

"I'll have to get the recipe for Abigail" Noah declared. "Minus the hair though!" Luke and Noah laughed. Then on a more serious note Luke asked Noah "Has Gowan agreed to do the better ventilation task?"

"No," He replied. "He thinks it will be a waste of money. He also doesn't want to lose money because fixing the system will close the mine for at least a week."

They ate the rest of their lunches in silence. When they finished, Noah asked Luke. "Was Josie going to go to school today? I know that Abigail was going to give her some more time off."

"No, she decided to go and do some hunting and get a turkey for dinner." Luke replied. They talked for a few more minutes more until they were interrupted by the men returning to work. They stopped their conversation and returned to filling to cart with coal.

They had only been working for about 10 minutes when there was a loud bang of the explosion. Rocks tumbled down into the shaft, trapping the men in at the end and burying the rest of the miners. The air was turning bad quickly and the men knew they were going to die of suffocation. Noah and Luke knew they were going to die and they began to write a note for their loved ones.

Luke simply wrote _Love you, my butterfly_ into the metal of his lunch pail. Noah carved into a piece of wood _Forgive Me. Pa_ for his wife. A few more minutes later, the mine was completely still and quiet.

* * *

Abigail was frozen when she realized what had just happened, then, as if she was a different person, she just ran out of the church, the children following. As she was running to the mine more women and men from the town came running, running blindly. As Abigail came to the mine, she knew her life would change dramatically. Never again would Noah and Peter walk through the door of their home again….

Josie wasn't even watching where her horse was going. She was just too upset and the tears in her eyes blinded her vision. She knew she had to get Bonny back onto the trail, so she stated to pull on the reins turn towards what she though was the trail, but Bonny didn't listen, she just went even faster. Bonny knew a shortcut and that was what she was taking and as they rounded a corner, a fence loomed in front of them.

In vain Josie tried to stop Bonny from trying to jump the five-foot fence at her breakneck speed, but Josie realized that Bonny was going to jump, so Josie prepared herself for it. Three. Two. One. Jump! Bonny leapt and cleared it and she kept up her wild gallop, then she gradually began to slow and as she turned the corner, she came to the mine and slowed to a canter, then a sliding halt. Josie could see the other townspeople running in to….

* * *

Lassie had heard the rumbles from the mountain and then the boom of the explosion and she argued with herself whether to stay at the house or go to the mine. She had been told to stay, but her master's father was out there in the mine. She leapt of the veranda and ran to the mine.

When she got there, she ran straight in, despite Josie calling her back. As she ran through the mine, she found a hurt man lying on the ground. Lassie stopped and went over, he was alive, but hurt bad. She grabbed him by his shirt collar and started to drag him out…

The townspeople came to the mine and stopped. Josie came up and stood with Bonny at the back when she saw Lassie running like lightning down the trail, straight for the mouth of the mine. "Lassie, NO!" Josie screamed to her, but Lassie didn't listen, she just went straight in.

* * *

As the people looked on, they knew that no one could survive the explosion. Most of the people were crying and holding their children close, but Abigail and Josie had no one to turn to for comfort.

Then Gowan showed up in his black car. He and the Pinkertens got out. Just then the crowd could hear a dog barking madly from inside the mine. Josie leapt of Bonny and ran to the mine. "Lassie LASSIE.!" She yelled, waking up everyone from their trance of grief. She stopped at the mouth of the mine and called again. She could hear Lassie dragging something so she ran in. Lassie was existed, but she was almost out of the mine. Josie grabbed the man's arm and together Lassie and Josie dragged the man out. They were out just in time to, for more rock fell from the roof, blocking up the entrance.

But Josie wasn't thinking about that. She looked at the still figure at her feet, but it wasn't her father. She knelt down and felt for the man's pulse, she could feel it, he was alive, barely. Josie summoned up all the courage she had left and called to the crowd. "It's Adam Millar! We need a wagon quick!" She commanded. Mrs. Millar ran over to her husband. Mr. Ansvile ran back to town and since there were people looking after the man, Josie started to look for Lassie.

Bonny was nosing something in the grass at her legs. "Lassie?" Josie ran over to her dog. Yes, Lassie was there, resting. The air in the mine was bad and Lassie had inhaled to much, but she still licked Josie's hands. When Herbert returned, the men helped to put Adam into the wagon. Mrs. Millar jumped in beside him. Florence had offered to look after the two girls and Mrs. Millar had agreed to the idea, so she was going to go with her husband to the hospital.

After they had left, Mr. Gowan stood up "Good people of Coal Valley, we will do all in our power to recover the bodies of the deceased miners. The loss…."

Josie didn't want to hear anymore of Gowen's pretend sadness, so she knelt Bonny down and placed Lassie onto the front of the saddle and she let Bonny get to her feet. She quickly placed the reins over Bonn's head and leapt up into the saddle and rode the white mare away.

* * *

Abigail was the last to leave the coal mine that day. She had lost her husband and her son in the same day. She was about to leave, then she saw some papers flying around. The window at the mine office had been shattered and the rising wind had blown the papers out of the window. Abigail picked them up and put them into her skirt pocket so she could read them later.

A storm was coming in fast and Abigail looked up at the clouds. It was going to be a bad electrical storm. She hurried back to town before it let out it's furry on the earth. When she got back home, Abigail broke down on the couch and wept her heart out, rocking back and forth in her grief, then, she finally fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Josie rode Bonny home gently because of Lassie and also because she knew her horse was exhausted. When she got back to the house, she lifted Lassie down off Bonny Dell and tock the collie dog inside and laid her down on the cot. Then she went back to get the two birds she had shot.

When she came back outside a half-hour later, the sky was clouding over fast. She briskly untacked Bonny, who was waiting patiently outside in front of the cabin. She led her horse into the stable and placed her in the first loose box, next to the black stallion, Thowra. As Josie gave Bon her hay, she could hear the wind rising outside quickly. _Its probably best if I get the horses into the covered pen._ Josie thought. As she walked back outside, she whistled for Wolf to help and together the two of them got them into their pen.

Josie then went back to the pasture and caught the cow and the dry milk goats. She got the cow into the barn fine and all the goats except for Daisy. She went back for the last goat, but Daisy had other ideas. She leapt up and broke the halter at the lead snap and with a shack over her head, she took of across the paddock.

"After her, Wolf!" Josie screamed above the sound of the wind. Her wolf tore across the paddock like a demon was chasing him. He caught up to the goat with the speed of wind. He bumped into the goat on deliberate and turned her towards the barn.

Josie quickly closed the door on the goat and gave Wolf a pat "Good boy!" She praised. In the distance, she could hear the sound of thunder rumbling and she could see tiny tongues of lightning in the clouds.

As she flew around the ranch, feeding and locking up the animals into their pens, and for a time she forgot what had happened that day at the mine. When she finished feeding, she ran over to the chicken coup and gathered up the eggs and locked the hens up into their house. She ran inside the cabin just as the storm broke.

The fire was almost out (Josie had left a big log on it before she had left) so she went to the lean-to to get more wood. When she got the fire roaring, she got water and started to boil it so she could pluck the turkey and the hen.

She was glad that she had bled them, so she would save some time now. When she had finished preparing the tow birds and placed them to roast over the fire, she went down to the cellar and collected some fish heads to make a stew for Lassie and her two other house pets.

When she came back up, Princess her grey tabby cat, was looking longingly at the birds that were roasting over the fire. "OH, No you don't" she said, grabbing the cat away from the food. She carried the wriggling cat over to her cot and tied her to it with some wool string. Princess wasn't very happy, but she didn't resist, much.

Josie quickly boiled the fish heads and carrots together and sat down. When she got back up, the stew was almost ready, so she got the animal's food dishes. She went to the pot and poured the stew into the three bowls. One for Wolf, one for Princess and one for Lassie.

Wolf was asleep on the floor near Lassie, but her awoke when Josie placed the bowl in front of his nose. She gave Princess her bowl and she was about to feed Lassie when she heard a loud purring noise. She walked over to the door and opened it. Cougar was there, asking to be let in.

"Cougar, your back!" Josie exclaimed, giving the mountain lion a hug. Cougar, in return, licked Josie's hands and walked into the house. Cougar went and laid down on the floor in front of the fire. Josie went and sat down next to Lassie on the bed.

As Josie was feeding Lassie, she thought about how she had come to own Cougar. One day Josie had been riding out in the forest when she had found her as a little, helpless cub. Josie had hidden her in a bag in the barn. When she had tried to feed the cub meat, she refused it. Josie had kept her for about three weeks when her father had went into the loft and found Cougar. He was going to kill the lion, but when Josie showed him that she was no threat to the animals and that she wouldn't eat meat, he had allowed her to live. If anyone tried to feed Cougar a steak of meat, she would not eat it, but give her a carrot and she would devour it with gusto.

Lassie finally finished the stew and went back to sleep. Josie got up and washed the dishes, put the cooked birds into the icebox, stoked the fire, got Cougar a carrot and went to bed.


	5. Chapter 4 (Dreams)

Chapter 4

When Josie finally fell asleep, she started to dream…

* * *

Josie had only turned twelve two weeks ago. Her family had been having a rough time coping with what had happened to Ben, but her parents biggest mistake was in blaming Josie for what had happened to Ben the months before her birthday. No one could see what was going to happen, well, Henry Gowen could regarding the coal mine.

Luke had given Josie a recording machine, a gun with a holster and the two year old tri-coloured pinto mustang stallion, Sprite. Not only was Josie's father, Luke, a horse breeder, gun collector and miner, he was also an inventor. Well, anyway, Josie had been awoken by her parents talking about the conditions in the mine a day after Josie's twelfth birthday.

"Gowen knows it is not safe down there in the mine, but he won't do anything about it." Luke said, sounding angry.

"Surely he would listen to Noah and you. Noah has worked in mines most of his life, so he ought to know what he is talking about." His wife replied.

"Yes, Honey, I know that, but does Henry listen, no way, he has only one thing on his mind and that is to remove as much coal as he can make his men to remove so he can make as much money as he can. The methogen levels are rising and there will be a big chance of the mine exploding."

"Does Gowen know that?" Georgia asked."

"Of course he does," he almost yelled "But he won't listen! We are to have a meeting with him tomorrow and I pray that some common sense will exist in his empty head for a change."

"Now, now, dear, you must not say things like that, it is not Christian." His wife soothed.

"I know darling, but men's lives are at stake here." Luke went back to silence for a few minutes then he spoke again. "You must not tell anyone that I have told you about this, because if Gowen finds out that Noah told me info about the mine, he will be in big trouble."

"Okay, I won't breath a word about this conversation."

 _Neither will I._ Thought Josie. Then her parents were talking again.

"What time and where will the meeting be?" Georgia questioned.

"Its going to be at the office at the mine around 11 o'clock. Gowen doesn't want anyone listening in."

"Okay, I see. Please be careful. We all know what Gowen is like!"

As her parents talked on, Josie planned how she was going to listen in. Then an idea sprung unto her head. _What if I record the whole thing, that way I will have evidence if anything bad does happen? I think I will do that!_ Josie drifted back to sleep, her plans for tomorrow gong around in her head.

* * *

The next day at around 10 o'clock, Josie started for the mine. She had told her father that she would bring him his lunch today. That way she would have a valid excuse to be round the min. She securely placed the recording machine into the saddle bag and fastened the lunch pail on the saddle horn.

She mounted Thowra and started to walk him towards the mine. She looked down at the watch her father had given her for her 10th birthday. It said that the time was 10:15, so she nudged Thowra into a canter.

When she got to the mine, only Noah, Peter and her father were around. Everyone else was in the mine and Gowen still hadn't shown up yet. She pulled Thowra back to the safety of the trees and them safely hidden, began to sneak up closer behind the office. When Thowra could get no closer, Josie got off and tied him to the pine tree.

She looked at her watch again, it was almost 11 o'clock. She opened the saddlebag and pulled out the recorder. As she was creeping up to the office, Gowen showed up in his car. He opened the office and motioned the men in. He opened the back window to let in fresh air and organized a few things. Gowen's men turned the car around and drove back to town.

The coast was clear! Josie quietly snuck up to the back window and set the machine up. As soon as Gowen's voice was heard, Josie started to wind the crank.

"The mine is not safe." She heard Mr. Stanton say. "The ventilation system in not working. It needs to be replaced!"

"It will be fine Noah, I am not going to waste five days getting it fixed!" Gowen exclaimed loudly.

Josie's father began to speak. "The methogen levels are rising. The ventilation system at the moment cannot get fresh air in quick enough or let the bad air out. There is a real chance of the mine exploding."

Noah butted in "Yes, and if you don't get the system fixed, a lot of women in this town will become widows. I will be contacting Joseph Sweeny this week for him to conduct an inspection, and if you don't get it fixed, I will quit!'

Gowen turned nasty "Quit! If you do that I will make sure that you never are able to get work anywhere again." He smiled meanly "Then how will your precious Abigail put food on the table? Stop causing me trouble. You know what I am capable of. If you don't shut up, I will get someone to murder either you or Abigail, whichever is easier!"

"If you or anyone lays a hand on my father or my mother, they had better watch it!" peter piped in. He had been silent up until now, but anger flashed in his eyes.

Gowen looked back at the three men standing in front of him "If you breath a word of what has happened in this meeting or about the conditions in the mine your families are going to pay big time." He threatered.

Josie at outside the window, quiet as a mouse. She kept turning the crank on the machine. She could hear her father talking again. "The mine will explode, not if, WILL!" She looked down at her watch. It was almost lunchtime and the men were still talking. Josie wondered how much longer they were going to be in there meeting.

Gowen had had enough, obviously his threats were not taking the effect he wanted. "Gentlemen, I would like to show you the door." He said, motioning the men out.

Josie quikly got up, collected her machine and snuck away. She quietly went back to her horse, put the machine back in the saddlebag, mounted, and rode back to the trail. Gowen was still talking to the men in front of the office. Josie quickened Thowra's pace so she could listen to what her was saying. She brought Thowra to a stop in front of the office, dismounted, and tied him up to the post. "BEHAVE!" She told him. Thowra snorted and nodded his head. Then she grabbed the lunch pail and walked over to her pa.

"Hey, sweetheart. Excuse me, gentlemen." He said, walking away.

"Hi Pa, I've brought your lunch." Josie said.

"Thanks, sweetie." He sat down beside Josie on the porch.

Noah Stanton walked over to them. "Happy Birthday for yesterday Josie, I think Abigail has something to give you for it when she sees you next."

"Thanks' Mr. Stanton" Josie replied. Noah and his son sat down to eat their lunch with Luke and Josie.

When Josie's Pa had finished his lunch, Josie picked up the empty pail, gave him a hug and left. As she was riding back home to hide the recording machine and the information it held, her father's words kept repeating over and over in head. _"The mine will explode. The mine Will Explode!"_

* * *

Pinkerton Richardson was riding through the forest to Luke's ranch. When he got to the barn, he opened to door and went in, he had to hide some papers so that later, if necessary, he would be able to blame the disaster on Luke Blackwell. He found a little wooden box and placed the papers that Gowen had instructed him to in it. He finished what he had to do and closed the barn door. He had mounted his horse and he was riding past the cabin when hell broke loose. His horse reared and bolted away, with his rider urging him on.

* * *

And explode id did. Josie sat upright in bed. Something had awoken her. She looked at the at the old clock next to the wall. It said it was only one in the morning.

Cougar was pacing the room and growling low in her chest every few moments. Josie knew something was going on that had disturbed her. She quietly got up and put a log onto the fire, then she went to the window and pulled the curtain back an inch.

The barn door was open and a lantern was flashing inside. Josie walked to the gun cabinet and pulled out the double-barrelled shotgun, in case the intruder came to the house. She went back to the window and tried to see who it was.

The person came out of the barn and closed the door. As the man got onto his horse, the lantern illuminated his face. She recognized him as one of Gowen's men. She looked harder. The guy wasn't wearing a gun so she thought she would leave him a little legacy of his unappreciated midnight visit to her ranch. She went to the back window. "Come, Cougar, go give him a good scare." She opened the window and let the lion jump out.

Cougar crept around the side of the house and waited, hidden in the shadows. The man was riding past the house. Cougar growled loud and long. The rider pulled his horse to a stop. "Who's there?" He questioned, his voice shaking. Josie chuckled. The man sounded afraid.

Cougar slowly crouched back and leapt, mouth open, eyes flashing and snarling viciously. The man screamed and kicked his horse to get away. As the man galloped his frightened horse away, Cougar let out a few huge roars and walked back to the house and her master.

Josie was laughing wildly as she opened the window for her pet. Cougar leapt in and purred loudly. That man would think twice before coming back to snoop around her ranch.

Then, on a more serious note, she wondered why he was here. _Did he see me at the mine?_ She asked herself. _Had he seen her recording the argument?_ She could not be sure of anything, so she went back to bed with the revolver that her father had given her for her birthday beside her on the little table beside her bed and went back to sleep, with Cougar lying next to the door…


	6. Chapter 5 (Work)

**This chapter might be a bit boring for some of you to read, but it is necessary for my story to flow.**

 **And to answer a question given to me by a guest who gave me a review, yes, Josie does manage to give the information she had recorded to the judge, but that happens way later...**

Chapter 5

When Josie's alarm clock woke her up later at 4 o'clock the fire had died down to just a few coals and was almost out. She put more wood on it and quickly got dressed, she was freezing. She briskly made herself a sandwich and ate it as she went around the house, tiding it up and putting things back into their place. If she didn't do it know, she knew she would be to tired later to clean.

She finished her work and checked on Lassie. Lassie lifted her head and whimpered. She was feeling stronger and now that she had rested, she followed Josie out the door and laid down on the porch. Cougar ran to the closed door and roared to be let out. Josie went and let Cougar out and went back to the barn.

She hastily milked the cow and goat. Both were not starting to produce as much milk as they normally had in the spring and summer. And as it was starting to get colder at night, Josie threw down some extra straw for the goats and their kids.

Josie quickly fed the cats and led the cow and goats to the pasture. She left the kids inside the barn and went out collect the eggs and feed the chickens. She also cleaned the coup and put more straw down for the hens.

The sun was starting to peek over the horizon when she had finished the chores. Josie had a huge day in front of her for it was harvest time and the grains and other crops needed to come in.

Her father had planted oats, wheat, barley and corn to feed the livestock over winter and now it had to be harvested before the snow came as well as collect all the apples from the orchard.

Josie walked over to the horse stable and opened to door. A choirs of neighs greeted her and Thowra whinnied to say hello. She gave him a pat and collected six halters and leads, then she went to the covered pen.

She opened the gate and walked in, the horses snorting with anticipation of their breakfast. After she had put some haw down to keep them occupied, she caught the first of the four workhorses, Clyde. Clyde was a clysdale gelding with a skewbald coloured coat. She lead him out and returned for the next horse, Foxy. She had, in a matter of minutes caught the other two workhorses and the wagon team.

She led them two by two to the stable and tied them up. Then she went inside and brought out the four harnesses for the workhorses and the pair of harnesses for the wagon team. She placed the harnesses onto all six horses and drove them to where the harvester and harvest wagon were and hitched them up to their respective machine and wagon.

They had fifty acers of barley, fifty acres of oats and fifty acres of wheat to bring in within two weeks.

"Git UP!" She yelled, slapping the horses with the reins. Three of the four horses that made up the harvest team walked forward together. Foxy reared. She was young and inexperienced but Josie didn't have time to mess around with her. She yelled again and wacked Foxy with her whip. This time all the horses moved forward as one.

Clyde and Sammy were old hand at pulling the harvester, only requiring Josie to give them voice commands and occasional encouragement. Josie walked in between the two teams, keeping them walking at the same pace. The wagon that was pulled by the two Morgans was on the left of Josie while the harvester was on the right.

As the harvester moved around the paddock, stripping the heads off the barley as it went along, Josie had the wagon beside it to catch the barley. When the wagon was full, Josie stopped the harvester, jumped up into the wagon seat and drove it back and emptied the barley into the bagging bin, then she went back for the next load.

* * *

Bythe time Abigail was up the next morning, the sun was already up in the sky. She dragged herself off the couch where she had slept for the night. She looked and felt an absolute mess. Her eyes, face and hair looked terrible and she felt worn out exhausted.

She heard noise outside and saw the remaining miners walking down the road to the mine. She looked at the front window and saw the remaining miners walking down the road to the coal mine for their shift. She then turned and looked at the door that only yesterday the love of her life and her son had walked out of, never to return.

Abigail groaned as she remembered that she still had to teach school. She quickly changed into a different, clean dress, she also brushed and did her hair into a bun and went out the door, starting down the road for the school. She had to prepare the lesson for that day before the children arrived. When she stopped, she took a deep breath in and opened the door.

When she walked in, a surprise awaited her. All the children's mothers were there and they had clean up all the broken glass and had tidied up the church.

"We wanted to speak with you, Abigail." Kat said softly, "The children are having a hard time coping with what has happened. We all are."

"Yes, I know." Abigail replied, sitting down on one of the wooden chairs.

"We have discussed and we all think it would be a good idea to close the school until the new teacher arrives." Florence suggested, "Seeing that we all need time to grieve."

For once Abigail agreed with her, "This is hard for all of us," She said, looking at all the mothers around her, "But we need to be strong for each other and our children. They need you all more now than ever before. We need to support one another and help each other. We need to pull this community tighter before it falls apart and everyone starts the blame game on you was responsible for the explosion."

A series of nods signalled the ladies agreement to what Abigail just said. When the meeting was finished, Abigail closed the church and walked home buy herself. She felt scared, lonely, afraid and worthless. All her life all she had wanted to be was a good wife and mother and now she was neither.

As soon as she got back to her rowhouse, she went to the bedroom that she had shared with Noah ever since they had moved to Coal Valley and cried until she had no more tears left.

* * *

Josie had nearly gotten all of the barley harvested before nightfall. But she wasn't finished yet, she still had to bag and stack the barley at the bottom of the loft so she could later store it in there when she had finished harvesting and bagging all the feed.

She unharnessed the weary teams, put the horses away into their pen and went back to the barn to start the next sequence of her work. First, she placed the bag at the end of the chute, then she placed her foot onto the leaver to raise the flap and let the barley flow into the bag. When the bag was full, she would stich it shut, drag it to the pile and start the cycle over again. She kept this up most of the night.

The bin was finally empty when she went back to the house and threw the dogs and cat a few bones from the cellar and gave Cougar a head of lettuce. She then wearily climbed into bed and went to sleep, for in a few hours she would start the process over again.

Josie kept harvesting the feed grains for the rest of the week. On Monday, she finally brought in the last of the feed and had bagged it. Now she had to stack the bags into the loft.

She looked at the ladder. It was going to be way too hard for her to try and carry or drag the heavy bags up the ladder into the loft. But maybe she didn't have too. She looked at the pulley system her father had built to get hay into the loft easier. It was going to be perfect.

Josie dragged about twenty bags onto the wooden platform. Then she went to the stables and got Thowra out of his loose box and collected his harness as well. She led him out, tacked him up and attached a rope to the harness collar and commanded Thowra to walk on. He pulled until the raft was high enough to go into the loft window.

"Stay here." Josie told him, as she ran into the barn, up the ladder, and into the loft. She leaned out the window and pulled the raft in onto the loft floor. This was going to be way easier than trying to carry the bags up the ladder…..

* * *

Abigail didn't know how she had made it through those first days after the explosion. Mostly she slept and when she was awake, she frequently cried.

But today she got up, stopped crying, put on a new dress and went out to do the laundry. She hadn't heard anything about the mine, but hearing anything was not going to change what had happened.

She heard a knock on the gate. It was the Reverend Anderson. "Hello, Reverend." Abigail said, unlatching the gate.

"Hello, Mrs Stanton, may I come in?" Reverend Anderson

"Certainly" Abigail replied, moving aside so she could open the gate and let him in. "Would you like to come in and have a drink?"

The Reverend nodded and followed Abigail into the house.

When they were both sitting down on chairs in Abigail's living room, the Reverend spoke. "How are you coping, Mrs. Stanton?"

"Coping?" Abigail replied, putting her empty tea cup down on the side table. "I'm not. I know that the explosion would never had happened if Mr. Gowen had listened to Noah about the faulty ventilation system."

"It certainly would be hard for you losing both your husband and son in one day. I can only imagine what you widows are going through."

"Yes," Abigail paused, "For the first few days I didn't even want to wake up again, then I realized that even though I am no longer wife or mother, I still am God's child and he has placed me here for a special purpose. A purpose that I have no idea what it is yet."

"Amen." The Reverend agreed.

"Sorry I didn't come to services yesterday, I just didn't feel up to it just yet."

"That's okay. Not many people showed up anyway. Most of them are pretty cut up with what has happened."

Abigail and the Reverend Anderson talked for a bit longer, then he excused himself, saying that he more visits to make. Abigail took his cup and they exchanged "Goodbyes" with each other and then he left.

When he had gone, Abigail went back outside and resumed her laundry washing. She wasn't angry with God for letting the disaster happen, but she did question why he hadn't intervened.

She was just finishing cleaning up after her lunch when the steam whistle blew from the mine. Abigail hurriedly put on her shoes and went out to join the other widows with their children who were making their way to the mine.

* * *

Josie heaved a huge sigh of relief after she had placed the last bag of oats into the loft and had stacked it. She sat down for about ten minutes to rest and climbed back down the ladder into the barn. Now that the feed fir the livestock was in, the uncut stalks of oats, barley and wheat would be left to dry and made into hay and straw bedding. Now she had to bring in all the corn into the underground corncribs to be stored for the winter.

She un-hitched Thowra from his harness and led him into his pasture to join the other horses. Then she used his halter and caught the Morgan wagon horse, Frosty, harnessed her and hitched her up to the wagon. She changed the reins from the long, leather driving ones and in their place, put shorter, riding ones onto the bit.

She led the horse in the edge of the cornfield and stopped her. Josie started at the first corn plant and pulled off all the corncobs and placed them into the wagon. She continued this for a few more cornstalks, then she moved led the mare and the attached wagon forward.

Josie did this cycle over again and again until noon. At noon, she stopped, un hooked Frosty from the cart and led her to the shade of a big, old oak tree. She got a bucket and filled it up with some water and gave it and some hay to the bay mare. Satisfied that her horse was looked after, she began to look for the biggest corncobs she could find.

It wasn't very nutritious, but it was all she had at short notice. She had already completely eaten the hen and the turkey two days ago, and had not much else left to eat. She found what she had been looking for and went and sat down with her horse under the tree.

The grumbling and hunger in her stomach subsided some with the sweetcorn and Josie felt a bit better with something to fill her stomach. She ate quickly, because she needed to harvest all the corn and bring in all the apples too within the course of four days, because by the hay would need cutting as well, before it went all mouldy.

When she finished her light lunch, she got up and went back to work. She had just gotten another load of corn into the crib when the steam whistle blew from the coal mine. She quickly un-hitched Frosty and leapt onto her back, on top of the mare's harness. Frosty, a little surprised at being ridden when she had not been for a long time, bucked a little and carried on, but Josie kept her seat and rode out the little mare's crazy antics and soon Frosty settled down.


	7. Chapter 6 (The vigil)

**In this chapter is my idea of how the church/school burns down. This is not mentioned at all in the videos, so I hope that this is a good guess. There is also a dream sequence when Abigail dreams that her son, Peter, gets married.**

* * *

Chapter 6

When Frosty and Josie had arrived at the mine, Mr. Gowen and the temporary Superintendent were already there. The Reverend was there also, appearing to be discussing something of great importance with the two men.

Mr. Gowen stopped talking to them and turned to the gathered ladies and men in front of him. "Thank you everyone for coming." He said, "When the men find more of the deceased miners, the whistle will blow to let you know to come here. The Reverend has agreed to do a prayer vigil for your lost loved ones on Wednesday night. I have in my hand the names of ten of our brave miners that they have already recovered." He announced, waving a piece of paper in the air. He began to read them out. "Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Blakely, Mr. Chan…." The list continued.

Abigail's husband, son and Josie's father were not on the list that he read out. Florence's and Molly's were though. Kat was hugging her children and Molly was comforting little Roseline.

Abigail stood at the back, but when she saw Kat and her children, she went over to them and gave Kat a hug. "It will be okay." She soothed.

Kat nodded her hear, "At least they can bury their men now." She replied, motioning with her head in the direction of the women who were talking to Gowen's temporary superintendent.

* * *

Josie sat still unnoticed by the crowd, but now she turned Frosty away and rode her silently back down the trail to her ranch. No one noticed her leave, they were all still overcome with grief.

As Frosty cantered her way back to the ranch, Josie struggled with her emotions. Now was not the time for grieving, she had lost of work to be done if all the animals and livestock were to make it alive through the winter.

When she got back the farm, she quickly set about returning to harvesting the corn. If she was going to make it to the vigil, she had to make up for that lost time now. Josie worked to sundown that day, until she was unable to distinguish the corn from the leaves. She emptied the wagon and put the horse away. She did all the chores by lantern light. She didn't want to use much kerosene, because she was too scared to go to town in case they wanted to send her away, so she kept the lantern light down low.

When she was finished, and had gone back to the house, she was to exhausted to eat, so she went to bed and to sleep. The next day and a-half passed exactly like the last week had.

* * *

Getup, feed the animals, work in the fields all day, feed the animals, got to bed. On Wednesday afternoon, the cycle was broken by Josie going to the vigil. The funeral was to be held at 5 o'clock, after the men had finished their shifts at the mine.

Josie rode Bonny Dell to the graveyard. She stopped her at the edge of the forest so that they were hidden. As she looked around at the people gathered there, she realised that the only person missing was Kat Montgomery. Her children were there with Abigail Stanton, but Josie couldn't see her anywhere. The reverend started the service…..

* * *

Abigail went home with a heavy heart. She would have to wait to bury her husband and son to receive the closure that she needed so badly to heal. What she didn't know was that they would be one of the last group of miners to be buried.

She was preparing dinner for herself the next afternoon when a knock sounded on the door. She stopped what she was doing and went and opened it. There was Kat.

"Kat, come on in out of the wind." She invited.

"Thank you, Abigail," Kat replied, walking in through the door. Abigail showed her to a chair and she sat down before speaking again. "Would you please take my children to the vigil tomorrow night. I have somethings I need to attend to."

"Of course, I will."

"Thankyou" Kat said as she started to cry.

"This has been hard on all of us." Abigail replied, reaching over to place her hand on Kat's. "Would you like to talk to me about it?"

"I argued with him before he left for work that day. They were our last words, angry words. I can never ask for his forgiveness now that he is gone and I feel terrible about it."

"If he was still alive and had walked through the door again, I am sure he would have forgiven you. He would not have wanted you to be cutting yourself up inside over it. He loved you and your children so much, he would not have allowed something so trivial to ruin his family, he wanted what was best for you. The main thing now is for you to let go and forgive yourself, only then can healing full restore your heart. Don't forget that you have three wonderful children that area testament to the love you and your husband shared. They need you now more than ever, Kat."

The two women talked for a bit longer, then Kat had to leave. "Thank you so much for your advice, Abigail," She said as she was leaving.

"Your welcome any time to come over and talk." Abigail said.

"I'll hold you to it."

The next day a little before the funeral was to start, Kat brought the children over to Abigail's house. "Be good for Mrs. Stanton. And DO not argue!" She said, hugging them all.

"Yes, Ma, we will be good and we won't argue." Emily replied.

Kat quickly left and started out to do what she had to take care of.

"Would you children like some cookies?" Abigail asked.

"Yes, please, Mrs. Stanton" Emily replied.

The children ate their cookies in silence, then Abigail said that it was time for them to leave for the funeral. The children walked with her to the graveyard not saying anything, they were all to absorbed with their own thoughts.

When they got to the graveyard, the reverend was handing out candles to all who were present. When he finished, he walked back to the front, and got a few matches so they could light the candles and start the service….."

* * *

The Reverend closed the church door. He had a funeral to conduct. As he walked away from the church with his basket of candles, he completely forgot that he had left a lamp burning in the storeroom.

The little, grey mouse peered cautiously out from the little hole in the wall. Everything was quiet and still. He squeaked with happiness, ran out and called his friends to join in on the fun. Mice began to congregate on the crates in the storeroom.

The reverend had carelessly left crumbs on the overturned box with the burning lamp and now the mice began to fight over the food. In their excitement, they knocked the lamp to the ground. The lamp crashed onto the Founders Day backdrop and burst into flames. It only took a little while for the whole church to burn right down to the ground.

* * *

Back at the cemetery, all the candles were almost lit. The people shared their candles around and finished lighting the rest of the candles. The reverend began to speak.

"People of Coal Valley, this has been a terrible ordeal for all of us. The brave miners that went into that mine every day to provide food for their families, they sacrificed everything to care for the people that they loved. The memory of them will live on forever in our hearts and minds…"

* * *

Josie quietly stoked Bonny's neck to hopefully prevent her from making too much noise. The Reverend spoke on. Josie looked at where the sun was at, it was getting late, she needed to get back to the ranch before the darkness of night would make it too hard to see the trail leading to home.

Bonny suddenly snorted and arched her neck, breathing heavying in and out, she was acting like an angry buffalo. She wheeled around, crashing into a branch.

"Stop it!" Josie screamed, forgetting that a funeral was in progress.

Bonny reared up high again and again and Josie saw what had scared the mare. On the ground a brown coil sat camouflaged in the leaves, tail up, rattling its rattles. Its tongue flashed in and out and it stuck the air where Bonny's leg had just been.

Bonny screamed and tried to catch the snake with her teeth." Stop, Bonny." Josie commanded again. This time Bonny listened and backed up. Josie quickly pulled her .45 colt pistol out of the holster and aimed. The bullet accurately found its mark and decapitated the snake's head from its body.

Josie got off her horse and stoked her neck, then she picked up the snake. It was an eight-foot-long rattlesnake.

"Josie" A voice behind her said. Josie turned around. It was Abigail Stanton. She had, in her fright forgotten the funeral. She saw all the people staring at her. She threw the rattler over Bonny's back and leapt up. She dug her heels into Bonny's side and galloped her away.

Abigail saw the look of fear in Josie's eyes when she had turned and looked at her. The poor girl was shy at the best of times, but now it looked as if she was completely terrified of people.

Abigail looked down on the ground where Josie had shot the snake. Its head was still moving and she could see the venom dripping from its fangs. She shuddered and walked back to the funeral.

Josie ran Bonny hard back home. She was badly scarred by the snake and also the way that Bonny had reacted and Mrs. Stanton had made it worse by scaring her like that. She vowed to herself that she was not going to get caught in a situation like that again.

When she got back to the ranch, she called the barn cats and threw the dead snake to them. She jumped off Bonny and led her to the stables. She took longer than normal un-tacking the mare because she could not stop shaking her hands from shaking with fear.

She was putting away the cow and goat when she heard a rustling in the straw. Josie screamed and ran into the house. The little kitten looked at this girl who was running away from her. Humans were so crazy! She ran out from under the straw and pounced on her mother's tail.

* * *

Abigail took Kat's children back to their mother's house that night until Kat came home. She gave the children dinner and put them into their beds and waited up for Kat to return. She dozed off into a dream….

* * *

"Mum, I' going to get married!" Peter said as he ran in through the door.

"Peter, that's wonderful!" Abigail ran over to him. "I'm so proud of you. I know Clara will make you happy."

"Thank you mum, we want to get married next week, so I will need your help. Clara is going to move here after our honeymoon so we will need to find somewhere to live."

"I know that there is a rowhouse that is vacant, so would you be happy for me to organize that for you.'

"Thank you so much ma. Love you!" Peter said as he ran out the door again.

Abigail laughed to herself, young love was so romantic. She smiled as she remembered her own short courtship with Noah. It had only lasted two weeks and then they were standing in front if the preacher in a church.

The week went by very quickly, and then Abigail was helping Clara get ready to be married. "You look lovely, Clara."

"Thank You, Mother." She replied.

"Well, what are you waiting for, go get married to your love."

Clara giggled at that. "I'm ready."

They went to the church and Abigail walked in through the door. "She's ready."

All eyes turned to the door and Clara walked in.

The service was lovely and over quickly. They all went to the reception and then when that was finished, the newly married couple left for their honeymoon.

* * *

Abigail woke up. It was just a dream. She realized now that she would never see her son marry. That made her start to cry again, but she stopped and whipped her eyes when she heard the sound of footsteps on the porch. The door opened and Kat walked in. Abigail got up. "Kat, do you know what time it is?" Abigail said, glancing at the clock.

"I know that I am very late, I am so sorry. Something I had to take care of took longer than I thought it would. Goodnight." Kat whispered, walking up the stairs to the bedrooms.

Abigail yawned and walked back over to the couch and laid down. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep again…

Josie got up and dragged herself out of bed. She didn't have a good sleep last night. She looked around for something to eat. She couldn't remember the last time she had something to eat.

* * *

She looked into the flour barrel, it was completely empty. She then looked at the bag of oats that she kept in the house to make mush for Cougar to eat. She knew that soon she would have to eat that if she didn't want to starve to death. She went through all the cupboards, all she could find was a can of backing soda and some salt. _That's not very appetizing!_ She thought.

Josie opened the trap door and went down to the cellar. She found a jar of peaches. "This will have to do for breakfast." She said out loud to herself. She went back up and ate the peaches greedily and went out to the barn. The cow and goat were giving less and less milk each day. Their bodies needed to rest before spring came and they gave birth to their babies. Josie drank the milk that the goat produced and gave the cow's milk to the cats.

She knew that the supply of fish heads was letting low. She knew that she needed to get more fish from the creek.

She gathered the fishing net, some buckets, and got Thowra ready to ride.

Josie had gotten the net across the creek and had trapped good load of fish when the birds began to start looking for worms and the deer came out to eat grass. She hauled the net up onto the bank, it was a good catch. She sorted out the small fish from the big ones and threw them into separate buckets. The small fish would be given the cats and the big ones would feed her and the dogs.

She gathered her stuff and rode Thowra back to the ranch. She was glad that the corn was drying out. If she needed to she could grind it into flour and make stuff out of that. When she got back, the sun was rising. Josie dragged out a table and began to gut, scale, clean and salt some of the fish.

When that was finished, she went and brought in the apples. The orchard had only ten trees in it, but she still managed to the apple bin and to barrels besides.

The weeks passed by quickly for Josie. She had a lot of work she had done, but winter was coming and she was glad that the animals had enough to eat. But what would she eat? A diet of fish, apples and horrible oats didn't seem very exciting. She needed meat or something else to eat.

Josie had hardly gone anywhere after the funeral, she was too frightened to go near the town or the people. Once the steam whistle blew and Josie had gone down there, but it wasn't her father's name that was read out, so she didn't attend the funeral…


	8. Chapter 7 (Elizabeth Thatcher)

**Hello all. My profound apologies for not updating sooner. I have been very busy this year with year 9 schoolwork so I can only write my fanfiction in the school holidays… As I said before sorry for not updating…**

 **This chapter is when Elizabeth Thatcher comes to town. My own version, so it differs a bit from the movie and the series….**

 **Enjoy! And please review. If more people review, I will have more inclination to update sooner!**

Chapter 7

Abigail looked up from the dishes she was washing and out the window, absorbed in her thoughts. The school teacher from Hamilton was meant to arrive two days ago, but the stage had not shown up, and they had no idea what had happened to it on the way out from Union City. " _I wonder what on earth happened to it."_ She thought _._ She sighed as she returned to washing the remining dishes in the sink before the water went cold.

For Abigail and the rest of the widows, the weeks following the explosion were full of despair, fear, grief and questions. Abigail finished the dishes and emptied the sink, then she wiped up the dishes and stacked them into their cupboards.

She was about to make some biscuits and stew for supper when she realized that she needed some ingredients for what she wanted to cook. She checked the fire and made sure that it would be okay until she returned, then she grabbed her basket, shawl and purse and went out the door…

* * *

Josie was tracking down a deer when she came to the end of the forest and into the meadow. She saw something coming down the road, so she reined in Bonny Dell and lifted her binoculars to her eyes. What she saw surprised her a little. It was a lone woman walking down the road. She looked again. The woman was covered in dirt and looked tired.

Josie knew that a bad storm was coming in and it was still a good ten miles to Coal Valley following the road and that lady was not going to make it there before the storm broke and unleashed its fury on the earth. She knew that she needed to help the woman, but she didn't want to go down there and be discovered. She knew what she should do.

Josie pulled the horse whistle up to her lips and called for Thowra. Only horses and dogs could hear the ultrasonic sound of the whistle, and to most people it looked like a piece of junk on a string, but it held the key to all the horses that Josie now owned. She reined Bonny back to the safety of the trees and waited for Thowra to come.

The lady was closer now and she was resting on a large grey rock that was on the side of the road, drinking some water from her canteen.

Thowra soon came and Josie swapped the tack from Bonny Dell onto the stallion. She had to adjust the bridle and breastplate to fit him, for he was a big strong, muscly stallion. Thowra arched his neck and waited for his instructions.

Josie opened up the saddlebag and pulled out the tiny sketch book that she carried in case she saw something that she wanted to draw and began to write on it.

"Go to the lady," She said to Thowra, pointing "and take her to Mrs. Stanton in Coal Valley. Behave mister, I don't want any trouble with the people in town." She placed the note into the horse's bridle strap. Thowra nodded his head and cantered down the slope towards the lady…

* * *

Elizabeth Thatcher was totally exhausted from walking and her fear of wild animals. She had been riding in a stage coach until it had been robbed by outlaws and the horses stolen, which meant that she was stranded out in the middle of nowhere. She saw a rock and sat down on it and sighed, then she took a nice long drink, savouring the water in her mouth to make it last longer. She put the lid on it again and closed her eyes to rest for a little while before she started walking again.

She had only closed her eyes for a few minutes when Elizabeth heard hoofbeats approaching her and she was started as she turned and saw a riderless horse coming down the slope. The horse came to her and stopped, turning his head so she could take the note out of his bridle. She opened it up and read.

 _This horse will take you to Coal Valley where you will be safe._

 _A bad storm is coming in so don't dawdle._

 _If you don't know how to mount a horse properly, gently press him behind the knee._

 _He will kneel down and you can mount him that way._

The note had no name to say who had written it, but Elizabeth followed the instructions it contained. She got the horse down and clambered on. Thowra stood up and smoothly went into a canter towards Coal Valley.

Elizabeth was no rider and it showed in her sloppy posture. Thowra had realized as soon as she had got on his back that she was inexperienced so he was extra carefully with her. Every nerve in his body wanted to buck this woman off and hightail it out of there, but he wanted to please his master, so he suppressed it and watched carefully for anything that would upset his riders balance.

* * *

Josie followed Thowra on Bonny from a safe distance, keeping her and the horse she was riding hidden in the thick trees. " _That must be the woman that the other ladies requested to be the new schoolteacher. Boy, she has got a nice dress, even though she is covered in a nice layer of dust."_ She thought.

As she watched Thowra be so careful not to upset his riders balance, when she knew that every bone in his body was screaming to buck the woman off, she could not help the proudful feelings she had for her stallion.

But Thowra had not always been so trust worthy. He had been a wild, vicious, untouchable horse when she had found him in the woods far from town, hurt and sick. Overtime she had gradually tamed him, but his reputation as a mad killer still clung to him like a bad odour.

Henry Gowen had brought him for a racehorse from a man in Hamilton, but the groom and jockey that he had employed abused him and tortured him into doing what they wanted. One day after he had put up with it for a long time, hatred boiling up inside him towards people, he had finally cracked. He had been cruelly treated and starved and he had had enough. Then one day when the groom came into his stall to try and make him know who was boss by beating him, Thowra broke the rope that was holding him and let fly. All his anger that was bottled up inside him made him go crazy and he trampled the groom to his death. Then he kicked the jockey in the head and made his escape into the forest. The jockey died the next day from his injury and Thowra was labelled a killer.

When Josie found him while she was out riding, he was almost dead from his wounds and starvation, but luckily, he had no brand on him to identify him as Mr. Gowen's property. It had taken a long time, but Josie earned the big horse's trust and then Luke branded him with his registered brand, so Gowen could never take the stallion back again.

* * *

Elizabeth was surprised and frightened when the horse didn't stop as they came into the town. Thowra did slow down to a canter so slow that it was almost a walk and he appeared to be looking for something or someone. He found Abigail talking to two other ladies in front of the store and he walked over to them.

"Whoa, whoa." Elizabeth said.

Thowra stopped, not from what his rider had said, but because he had finished the instructions that Josie had given him.

The three women stopped their conversation and looked wide eyed at Elizabeth and the black stallion.

"Hello, I'm Elizabeth Thatcher, the new school teacher." She said, extending her hand to them from the back of her horse.

Abigail stepped forward and accepted Elizabeth's outstretched hand and gave her a handshake. "I'm Abigail Stanton and these are Florence Blackly and Kat Montgomery," said Abigail, motioning towards the two women "We were expecting you two days ago."

"I know…. The stagecoach was robbed and the horses, along with my belongings were stolen. I walked all day yesterday and most of this morning until this horse found me and gave me this note, so here I am." She said as she passed the handwritten note to Abigail.

Abigail looked at the horse, " _I know that horse_.." she thought " _and I recognize that handwriting.."_ She looked back up at Elizabeth, "You must be exhausted, how about we go to my house, we can talk there. Follow me Miss Thatcher." She said motioning the other two ladies to follow.

Elizabeth brought up the rear with Thowra, holding him back to a walk. When they got to the rowhouses, Abigail stopped in front of the first one. She opened the door for Florence and Kat to go on inside and she herself was about to go in when she noticed that Elizabeth was still on the horse. "You are coming in, Miss Thatcher?"

"Ummm, yes." She replied awkwardly, clearly embarrassed "How do you dismount a horse?"

Abigail came down the stairs and walked over the horse and took hold of his bridle cheek strap. The horse was getting excited, his eyes were rolling and he started to shake his head and dance in place. "Thowra" Abigail whispered in awe of the stallion she had only heard about. She turned to Elizabeth. "Swing your right leg over his back and jump down."

Elizabeth followed the instruction and the moment that her feet touched the ground, Thowra threw his head up and reared, lifting Abigail up. She let go and Thowra wheeled around, galloping away.

Abigail watched as out of the forest came a girl riding on a white horse. Thowra ran to them and the girl jumped off Bonny and onto Thowra and they all melted back into the forest.

"What was that all about?" Kat asked as Abigail and Elizabeth walked in through the door "I was watching from the window."

"That was Thowra." Abigail replied.

Kat gasped. Abigail continued "Josie must have seen Miss Thatcher walking along the road and sent Thowra with her to here."

"You rode Thowra?" Florence looked amazed at Elizabeth.

"Yes, if that is the horse's name. Why all the fuss?"

"Thowra is the wildest and most vicious horse in Coal Valley. He killed one man outright and wounded another so bad that he died the next day. Josie Blackwell is the only person that will go anywhere near him." Abigail explained.

Eliazabeth sat down in amazement "I would never have known that the way he acted, he was so careful with me while I was riding him. He made sure that I didn't fall off."

Abigail noticed that her hand was hurting badly now and she looked down at it. She had a deep gash and it was bleeding awfully. She got off her chair and went over to the wash basin and began to clean it.

She was still washing it in salt water when Kat came over to her. "Ouch, that looks nasty" She let out a low whistle.

"Yes, Thowra was scared out of his wits. He has probably never got over his fear of people and maybe never will. I grabbed his bridle so that I could steady him so that Miss Thatcher could get off. He reared up, so I let go, but not quick enough."

"Here, let me look at it," Kat said. Abigail pulled her hand out of the water and held it up for Kat to see. "That is going to need a poultice. Where is your first aid kit?"

"Over there" Abigail said as she sat down at the table.

Kat quickly returned with materials required to make a poultice and began to prepare it for Abigail..

* * *

Josie, Thowra and Bonny Dell raced through the forest, dodging trees and rabbit holes as she tried to calm the stallion. When she arrived back to the ranch and dismounted, Thowra's eyes were still wild with fear and he was shaking.

"Easy boy." Josie soothed as she noticed the blood and little bit of skin left on Thowra's bridle. "Oh Thowra, you hurt Mrs. Stanton. I should have known you are still terrified of people. I'm sorry boy, I forgot." Except for Josie and Elizabeth having riding him that day, Abigail was the only person to get within twenty-five yards of Thowra.

Josie led him and Bonny Dell into the stable and put them into their loose boxes and went to get Thowra a treat. She quickly returned with a half-full bucket of cracked corn and oats and gave it to him. While he ate, Josie un-tacked him and gave him a thorough brush. He really liked that and soon he was calm again.

As she left his stall, Josie's stomach growled, reminding her that she needed to get something to eat. The cow and goat were both bone dry, and her mother's garden was empty. She walked back to the house wondering what she was going to eat. Cougar bounded over and joined Josie as she checked on the goats.

When she and Cougar got inside, Cougar went over to the couch she claimed as her own. Princess was happily sleeping soundly on the couch and Cougar was not happy about that, so she laid her head down near Princess and growled low in her chest.

Princess leapt up and gave Cougar a nice set of ten claws right into her nose. Cougar sneezed and turned around, while Josie was laughing loudly at her and Princess. A six-pound cat still ruled a hundred-pound mountain lion. Cougar went over and laid down in front of the fire instead.

Josie went back through all the cupboards and drawers. She knew that her mother would hide special food for occasions such as birthdays, Christmas etc., but the question was where?

She continued looking through the cupboards and then she went into her mother and father's rooms and went through the wardrobes. She still didn't find anything to eat so she began to walk around the floor, checking for any loose boards that might have food hidden beneath them…


	9. Chapter 8 (Ideas and Secrets)

**Chapter 8**

 **As always please review if you like this story and if you have any suggestions on how to make this story better, please feel free to comment or message me.**

 **I have decided to do a sequel to this story when I finish. It will be a follow up of this story, around season 2… I need suggestions for a name of a girl that was Josie's best friend… I have a name or two in mind, but one of you might come up with a better one…**

 **Here goes…**

Josie looked everywhere in the house that she could think of. The only place that she forgot to look was behind the huge oak bookshelf in her parent's room. She opened the door and went in and gave a huge sigh. The oak bookshelf was very heavy and it took her quite a lot of pushing and pulling to get it away from the wall. She remembered that the bookshelf had been in the house when they had first moved into it. She looked behind it and in between the cracks in the wall was an old, brown piece of paper.

Josie frowned and picked it up. This wasn't what she was looking for, but she opened it up anyway, just out of curiosity. It looked like an old map. She got off her knees and went over to the window. The sun was just starting to set, but it gave enough light for her to have a quick look at it. She walked back into the living room and put the map onto the table. She had just enough time to go and do the outside chores if she hurried.

When she came back from doing the animals, it was dark. She lit a lamp and went down into the cellar to see if anything had been left behind in her search, almost tripping over on a loose stair board. She stopped and then carefully went down the remainder of the stairs to the bottom.

Josie looked through all the crates and boxes. All that she found for her troubles were some cabbages and tomatoes. She picked a tomato out of the box and began to eat it greedily. As she ate, she suddenly realized that the loose board might be a lid for a secret hiding place for food. She quickly climbed up the stairs and knelt. She yanked the board off and peered down inside.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could make out some jars and cans. She reached in and pulled the first one out. It contained pears, the next jar held strawberry preserves. She kept pulling out jars and cans until there was no more to get out. She was about to replace the wooden board when she saw a metal box in the corner.

Josie pulled it up and looked at it. It was a small, old safe. There was a lock on it. _"Great, now where on earth is the key?"_ She thought. She looked back down into the hole and felt around until she felt the cold, smooth metal of a key. She got it and un-locked the safe.

As she opened it, she could see that it was full of money. She tipped it out and began to count. When she finished counting, the sum was close to nearly two thousand dollars! She let out a low whistle as she began to put the money back into the box when she noticed two small envelopes in the bottom, stuck in the corner of the box.

Josie pulled them out and opened them up. One was the deeds to the farm and the other looked like a certificate for shares in a company in Hamilton. _"Hmm, I wonder what on earth my father had shares in that for?"_ She thought. It was the Hamilton Shipping Company. She put all the money and the envelopes back into the box and replaced the stair. She then picked up the safe key and the jars and cans of peaches and climbed the stairs up and out of the cellar.

Josie placed the can and jar onto the table and set about storing the safe in the hole inside the wall behind where the icebox was standing. She moved the recording machine just far enough back so that she could fit the safe in as well. When she was happy that it was safe, she went back down into the cellar and brought up the jars and cans of food she had found.

When she had finished, she had a nice little pile of jars and cans. Her mother had hidden two cans of peaches, three jars of peaches, as well as a jar of pears and a jar of strawberry preserves. Josie opened up a can of the peaches and happily ate half of the can, thankful that she had found something to eat, then she went to bed.

* * *

"How many children will I be teaching?" Elizabeth asked, sipping her tea.

"About twenty." Abigail replied, sitting down in her rocking chair and gathering up her sewing.

"Is Coal Valley normally so quiet? There doesn't seem to be many people around."

Abigail looked up at Elizabeth, carefully choosing her words before she spoke. "The Superintendent of Schools did tell you what happened here, didn't he?"

"No" Elizabeth replied, beginning to feel uncomfortable as she looked at the ladies faces, trying to read them.

Abigail went pale and for a long time seemed lost in thought, then, when she spoke it was barely above a whisper. "Three months ago, there was a terrible explosion in the mine. Forty- seven brave men lost their lives and many of us lost our husbands and sons. Many of the children became fatherless that day."

Elizabeth bowed her head and looked at her cup, whishing that she hadn't asked that question. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize."

Florence butted in. "What she's saying is that we don't have any need for a princess."

"I assure you that I'm" Elizabeth was cut off by Kat.

"The Pacific Northwest Mining Company is no longer in charge of our children's education. It would be the mothers who are paying your salary and for most of us our children are the only thing we have left and their education is all we have control over. So, whomever we entrust them to must be fearless. You would not just be teaching them to read and write, you will be fighting for their future. Do think you can handle this? Also, the school is to be held in the saloon as the church burned down not long ago."

Abigail spoke again, as she put her sewing aside so she could get up "I think that if Miss Thatcher was able to ride the wildest and most vicious horse in Coal Valley, then she can definitely handle James, Florence." She said, going to the window after hearing children fighting outside. "Great, James and Gabe are fighting."

Sure enough, Gabe and James were mixing it up on the ground. The women came outside, Abigail grabbing the full pail of water that was beside the door. She ran over to the two fighting boys and dumped the bucket's contents right on top of them. They both jumped up, dripping wet.

"Hey!" Gabe complained.

"What was this over?"

"He wouldn't give me the ball." James said, starting again for Gabe, but Florence intervened and caught him by his shirt collar. "You are coming home with me, young man. This behaviour is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it." She said as she took him in the direction of their home.

"And you," Kat addressed Gabe "Go home and change your clothes."

Gabe looked like he was going to whine "But mom."

"Gabriel, don't argue with me. Come on, let's get going."

All fun now gone, the rest of the children ran off to play again. Elizabeth just stared as Abigail calmly picked up the bucket and carried on like nothing had happened.

"They never taught us how to break up a fight like that at college." She laughed.

"Boys, all ways getting into some mischief." Abigail replied with a faraway look in her eye. They went back to the house so Elizabeth could grab her shawl and then Abigail gave her directions on how to get to the teacherage.

* * *

Elizabeth looked at the place that she would call home, it looked old and rundown. She sighed and opened the door. It looked a bit better than the outside. She went in and tried to start a fire in the stove, but the nature called. She looked all inside the house for the water closet, then in came to her. _There is no water closet. That old, smelly building outside must be the lavatory!"_

When she walked up to it, the smell and the flies turned her off, but she had no choice. She opened the door and went inside…..

* * *

When she came back into the house, she began to look for something to eat. She looked inside the cupboards to see if there was anything left in them. She found something that looked like an apple, but it was white and purple around were that stalk had been. She bit into it. It tasted disgusting, so she spat it out.

Elizabeth walked over to the stove. The little fire that had been going was now out, so she put more paper in to it and started it again. It began to smoke terribly and so she dumped a bucket of water into it. The ash flew everywhere and completely covered her in it.

She finally managed to get a fire going about half an hour later. So, she washed her dress and hung it up to dry over near the fire. A wolf howled somewhere in the forest and Elizabeth jumped in fright, not realizing that the sleeve of her dress had fallen into the fire.

She dragged the table across the floor and placed it in front of the door and jumped up onto the bed, wooden spoon in hand. Then, as she turned back towards the stove, she realized that her dress had caught on fire.

She jumped off the bed, dragged the table away from the door and ran outside with her bucket. By the time that she filled her bucket with water from the creek, the whole house was in flames. She watched with dismay as the house burnt down. What was she going to do?"

It was so cold and she could still hear the wolves howling, although they were not as close as it had been before. Then she remembered Mrs. Stanton. Maybe she could spend the night at her place. She started back for the rowhouses….

* * *

Josie got up before dawn and opened another can of peaches, realizing with dismay that only one jar of peaches was still good. The other two were bad and going off. She ate the can of peaches and looked for something else. She didn't want to eat the strawberry preserves just yet, so she ate some of Cougars oats, uncooked. She soon wished that she had cooked them first, as she ran outside and began to vomit. When she finished, she felt no better. She needed something more than un-cooked animal oats and she didn't want to eat the last jar of peaches yet. _Maybe, I could get a deer or a turkey._ She thought _._

She went out to the barn. She tried to get some milk out of the cow and the goat, but they were both bone dry. She went into the barn cellar and grabbed the cats some fish heads, then she left the barn.

She went to the chicken coop and looked at them hungrily. If she didn't get something, she made the decision that she would kill and eat one of them later. She threw them some grain and went to the stable.

As she opened the door, Thowra neighed a hello to her. Josie went into the tack room and soon returned with his saddle and bridle. She put it on the stall door and opened it, moving Thowra away from the door as she did. She gave the stallion a quick brush and tacked him up. Then she led him out of the stable and to the house, tying him up to the post. She went back inside and soon returned with Wolf and her Winchester. She put the rifle into the gun holder and mounted.

As she and Thowra moved through the forest with Wolf scouting for an animal, the sun started to peek over the tops of the tall pine and oak trees and the birds began to sing….

* * *

Elizabeth got up early in the morning. She had had a bad night and could not sleep with the memory of the house burning up still fresh in her mind. She got dressed in the clothes that Abigail lent her and crept out into the kitchen.

Abigail, awoken by the noise opened her bedroom door and came out. "You're up early."

"I wanted to apologize before I left for the school. I had no idea that my dress was so close to the fire" She paused. "Of course, I will reimburse the town for burning down the teacherage."

Abigail interrupted "Elizabeth, it's okay. It was an old building."

"Thank you for taking me in and for lending me these cloths and…" Her voice trailed off. "You must think me silly and incompetent."

"No." Abigail assured. "I know how hard it is to come to a new place and find your footing. When my husband Noah and I first moved here to Coal Valley with our son Peter, we were so young, we didn't know anything. But we found our way and I know you will find your way too."

"Thank you for saying that. It was very kind of you. Well, I'm off for my first my first day of school."

"Good luck." Abigail said as she placed an apple into Elizabeth's hand "I know that the first few days might be a bit bumpy, but I have every confidence in you."

"Thankyou." Elizabeth replied, walking out the door.

Abigail went over to the window and watched her leave. The new teacher was okay, a bit scared and uncertain, but kind and nice as well. Abigail watched until she could no longer see Elizabeth, then she went to prepare her breakfast.

* * *

The men in the mine had finally busted a hole through another lot of fallen rock and roof timbers. The peered in, their eyes adjusting to the darkness. They could see the rest of the deceased miners inside.

As they cleared away the rocks and timbers, allowing them to get the miners out, a man saw the bucket and a piece of timber over near the wall. He went over to them. "You're not going to believe this. Dear God…" He exclaimed.

"What is it?" His friend asked.

He held up the plank of wood and all the miners stopped their work and came over. They knelt down and took off their hats in respect for the man who had written the words. Mr. Ansvile came over. "Can you pass me the bucket, please." He asked. A man handed it to him and Herbert began to carefully pull out the bucket's contents.

He saw the photo of Luke with his family and the note about giving Noah a recipe for Abigail. He looked up at the men. "The pail belonged to Luke Blackwell. He wrote the note on this bucket for his daughter.'

Mr. Palmer spoke up. "Who wrote the message on the wood?"

"I'm not sure." Herbert replied, examining the carved message. "We will show it to the town and then decide what to do with it."


	10. Chapter 9 (Found)

**Hi all. Here is chapter 9. Hope you enjoy it.**

 **I just want to say that I own nothing, except the characters I have added. (Josie, Wolf, Lassie, Thowra, ect) All credit goes to Jannette Oke, Crown Media ect… There is some dialogue from season 1 episode 1.**

 **I do want to say that what I have seen of season 4 is AWESOME! I am so glad we get season 5!**

Chapter 9

"Okay children, listen up."

It was school time in Coal Valley. Elizabeth continued speaking.

"I have some rules that you all need to follow. One, there is to be no talking while I am speaking. Two, if you need to leave your seats, you need to ask permission first." A loud whistle interrupted, but she kept talking. "Three, if you want to ask a question…." She stopped as the children began to run out of the saloon.

"Stop, come back here. You haven't asked permission!"

"Miss Thatcher. Miss Thatcher."

Elizabeth turned around "Yes"

"My name is Rachel. And no disrespect mam, but you shouldn't try and stop them."

"Why's that?"

"The whistles from the mine, it means that more of the daddy's have been found."

"Found?" Elizabeth questioned, just realizing what it meant.

"Yes mam, now their folks can take them and bury them proper." Rachel replied.

Elizabeth turned and walked to the window. Everyone was coming out of the houses and buildings and started to walk down the road towards the mine. "Everyone, follow me." She ordered, going to the door….

* * *

Josie had just shot a prairie hen and was in the process of re-loading her rifle when the whistle blew from the mine. She finished re-loading, then put the rifle into the holder. She grabbed hold of the saddle horn and swung up onto Thowra.

She kept him at an easy canter, because she needed him not to wear himself out, for she still had more miles to cover before they would go home. She turned a corner and slowed Thowra to a walk and whistled for Wolf to come to her. Wolf came over to her and sat down beside the stallion just as Mr. Ansvile began to speak.

* * *

"Neighbours, we have done what we promised. Today we dug up the last of the lost men. Now I know that these past few months have left us all feeling like, well like…" He paused, trying to find the right words. "Like there ain't nothing right in this world. But besides finding the brave men that their lives, we found something else today. Now I hope that it will bring comfort to at least one Coal Valley family." He said, holding up the plank of wood.

Everyone gasped and looked wide-eyed at the plank and its message.

"What's it say, Teacher?" A little boy asked.

"Forgive me. Pa." she replied.

Mr. Ansvile passed the plank to Mr. Gowen. "We also found this." He held up the pail. "Luke Blackwell wrote this message for his daughter, Josephine." He pulled out the photo and held it up as well. "I can confirm that this pail belongs to Josie because of this photo. Josie…." He motioned to the girl hiding at the back on her horse.

All eyes turned towards Josie. "Stay, Wolf. Git up." She whispered, walking Thowra forward. She stopped Thowra when she was close enough to the Superintendent. She leant forward and took the pail with tears running down her face.

"Thank you, sir." She said softly. She then backed Thowra out of the way, which unfortunately was in front of Gowen's car.

Gowen spoke up when everyone had gotten over the shock of what they had found. "Ladies, I promise I'll take good care of this plank until it is decided what we're going to do with it."

Mr. Palmer spoke up. "A miner, one of our own, spent his last minutes on the earth writing those words to his family. We should decide where it goes." The crowd assembled mumbled their agreement.

Gowen turned and started to walk away with the plank. "Back to my office, Mr Spurlock." He ordered, hopping into his car.

The miners walked over and stood in front of the car. "Kindly step aside Mr. Palmer." Gowen ordered.

"This ain't your decision Mr. Gowen. This is a matter for the miners and the windows to decide and your neither sir."

Josie and Thowra were standing a little way back from the car on the road. She didn't want to get into trouble so she tried to move her horse out of the way. Thowra wouldn't budge. "Come on, Thowra." She kicked him harder, trying to get him going, then she realized he was going to rear. "Get out of the way." She screamed as her stallion reared, striking out with his forelegs. He hadn't forgiven the man that abused him with the groom and all he wanted was to bite that pussy cat of a man, Mr. Spurlock.

The miners quickly moved away from the black horse that was really fighting his rider's wishes.

"Thowra no!" Josie yelled again, yanking hard on the reins as he reared again. Mr. Spurlock started the car and began to drive forwards, honking the horn. Thowra bellowed with fury and lashed out again, nearly kicking Mr. Spurlock in the head. He left Josie with now choice, but to hit him as hard as she could on the rump with her rifle. Thowra kicked out and bolted off, nearly crashing into the Constable's horse, with Wolf following as fast as he could.

The car had stalled and stopped. The miners walked back in front. Gowen was starting to get really annoyed. "Step aside, Mr. Palmer."

"Or what or, or you'll run me down. Is that what you want, Mr Gowen. One more dead miner?" Mr Palmer started towards the car.

Jack quickly rode up. "Whoa back there!" He commanded.

"Who's that, Miss Thatcher?" Rachel asked.

"That's a Mountie."

Jack rode over to the car. "Sir, would you like to tell me what is behind this commotion."

"We had a mine disaster in this town recently."

"I'm aware of that"

"Today, this was found." Gowen said, motioning at the plank of wood on his lap. "The identity of the deceased miner who wrote this is unclear. Now understandably everyone's very emotional about it, but this is a distraction we can ill afford."

Mr. Palmer spoke up. "No one is going to be thinking about that job until we find the owner of that message."

"There is no reason why both can't happen at the same time. Folks." Jack said, turning his horse around. "Only fair way to judge who should have it is for all the widows to submit a sample of their husbands writing to Mr. Gowen as evidence. I'm sure we can come to an agreement within three days."

"And who might you be, young man?" Gowen asked.

"My name is Jack Thornton. I'm the new Constable of Coal Valley," He turned his horse and moved him down the road towards town…

* * *

Josie had a hard time getting her horse to stop. They had been bolting through the forest for about five miles and Thowra was still terrified. When she finally got him to stop, she leapt off him in one swift motion and softly talked to him. "Easy, easy boy. What were you thinking? I know you hate Mr. Spurlock, and I don't like him either, but what were you thinking, crazy horse? You could have me in big trouble mister."

Thowra snorted again, trembling. His eyes were wild and terrified and he was foaming and sweating profusely from fear. Josie stood there with her horse, stroking and talking to him.

* * *

Jack stomped up the stairs that lead to the store and telegram office. He was really in a bad mood. Now it all made since to him why he had been assigned here and that reason was Miss Prim and Proper. Miss Thatcher!

He quickly dictated to Mr Yost a telegram demanding to be sent to a new post. As Ned was sending the message, Jack's eyes strayed to the waste paper basket. There was a crumpled telegram paper. He pulled it out and read.

 _To: Randall Pope_

 _President Pacific Northwest Mining Company_

 _Place: 5622 NT New York_

 _In regards to Questions of negligence or safety violations liability has been managed_

 _Responsibility averted_

 _Matter appeared to be resolved_

 _Henry Gowen Managing Director- Coal Valley Operations_

 _End of Telegram_

Jack quickly folded it up again and placed it into his jacket pocket as a customer walked in through the door. He left the store and went to the jail.

* * *

After a long time, Josie finally got Thowra calm and let him catch his breath after his mad run. She had shot a hen so she decided it was best for her to go home and hunt down a deer later.

She placed the reins over Thowra's head, grabbed the saddle horn and sprung up. As she rode, she admired the hen she had gotten. It was a good size and would feed her for at least two days.

When she got home, she un-tacked Thowra and lead him into his stall, gave him his food and fed the rest of the animals.

Afterwards, she went into the house to prepare the bird for eating. When she looked at her father's lunch pail that was on the table. She read and re-read the message again and again over in her head. She couldn't stop the tears from coming and broke down. Cougar came over to her and she threw her arms around Cougar, burying her face in her lion's thick fur.


	11. Chapter 10 (Dinner)

**Here is chapter ten.**

 **Some of you might remember the dialogue I use out of first episode of season 1… All rights go to the Hallmark channel and all people associated with making this tv series possible…**

 **I CAN'T WAIT FOR SEASON 5!**

Chapter 10

Abigail was preparing dinner two days later when Elizabeth came down the stairs. "Elizabeth, your just in time for dinner. Would you please set the table for three?" She asked politely.

Elizabeth started to gather the utensils. "Remember when you told me that the first few days might be a bit bumpy." She turned around and looked at Abigail. "Well, you were right."

Abigail looked up and what she saw shocked her. "Oh, black and blue to it appears. What happened?"

"Some of the boys at school got into a tussle about the message on the wood. I stepped in and caught the worst of it."

"Never step in between two coal boys when their mixing things up. Well, unless you have a bucket of cold water to dump onto them."

Elizabeth laughed as she remembered Abigail dumping the water on Gabe and James. She turned back to her assigned task. "I need to get them interested in their lessons, but I have never been through anything like what they have before. I don't know how to help them."

Abigail looked up from the peas she was shelling. "When my Peter was little I was the only teacher he had. He was so bored with his lesson sometimes he would nod off like an old man in a rocker."

"So, what did you do?"

"Levity, I added a little levity to the learning."

"Levity." Elizabeth repeated. She was about to say more when a knock sounded on the door, interrupting her.

"Would you mind?" Abigail said, nodding in the direction of the door.

Elizabeth left what she was doing and went to the door. When she opened the door, a surprise awaited her. "You."

"You!" Jack replied, noticing her black eye. "Nice shiner."

"It's my first actually, but I think I earned it." She replied, clearly unhappy.

"Got those bags packed yet?" Jack asked as he came in the door.

"Why, got your fill of coal dust already?" She was about to say more when Abigail came over.

"Good evening Constable."

"Evening, Mrs. Stanton."

"We're glad you could make it on such short notice." Abigail replied politely.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not too popular in town yet, so invitations aren't exactly poring in." Jack said as he placed his hat on the rack.

Abigail noticed the anger evident on Elizabeth's face, but she ignored it. "Well, we're very happy to have you. Aren't we, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth, put on the spot, replied angrily. "Happy isn't the word for it."

Jack wanted out on the conversation, then he noticed the painting on the wall. He walked over to it.

"Do you like it?" Abigail asked.

"Very much, mam. The artist has a wonderful grasp of colour and composition."

"You know art, do you?" Elizabeth questioned.

"A little." He replied. "My mother taught me to appreciate different techniques in subjects."

"Is she an artist herself?"

"No. A teacher, a most honourable profession." He turned back to her painting. "In any event a very talented artist."

"Was" Abigail paused as Jack turned to her. "My late husband, God rest his soul." She walked back to the stove to serve up dinner.

Jack looked back at the painting. "Noah Stanton." He whispered. "What can you tell me about the girl that was riding that black, wild horse that nearly ran me over?"

Abigail looked at him. "The girl is Josephine Blackwell. Josie for short. Her mother, Georgia, passed away from blood poisoning three days before the mine explosion claimed her father as well. Only six months before, her little brother drowned in a mountain lake before anyone could save him and Josie watched it happen. She leapt in and dragged him to the river bank, but he was already gone."

"Does she have any other living relatives?"

"Not that I know of. Her parents never really spoke about their relatives, Georgia just stayed by herself and I never had anything to do with her father. Today was the first time I have seen Josie since the first of the miners were buried. Her horse was playing up and I went over to her. When I spoke her name and she turned around I could see the fear and pain in her eyes. I was actually a little scared of what I saw in her face. I have never seen a person like that before. She was always a shy child, but with her brother dying, her parents blaming her for it, and then both her parents dying as well, I'm afraid that she has totally gone back into her shell. I would go and see her, but in her state, I'm not sure how she would react."

Jack nodded his head as he took in the information Abigail had given him. "I'll keep an eye out for her on my rounds. If she doesn't have any family and if no one wants to take her in, she may have to be sent to an orphanage."

Abigail nodded. "Dinner is ready." She said as she placed it into the table.

* * *

Josie ate the last of the hen slowly, savouring every little bit of meat. When all of the flesh had been eaten, she licked the last little bit of meat off the bones and put them into the pot to make bone broth.

As she cleaned up and prepared to boil the bones, she remembered the funeral for her father was tomorrow. As the memories came back, she almost dropped the plate she was carrying. She placed it onto the table with the open map that was still sitting there. She decided that she would go looking for what the map led to tomorrow, after the funeral, so it would take her mind off things.

As Josie stirred the boiling bone broth, Lassie came over to her and whimpered. Josie knelt down by her collie. "Oh, Lassie I have to eat too, I can't eat your food darling. When spring comes, we will have more to eat." She got up and turned back to the pot.

Lassie walked over to the coat rack and pulled off Luke's overcoat, then she laid down on it. Josie turned around at the noise. "He isn't coming home Lassie." Lassie laid her head down on her paws and went to sleep.

Josie knew that she should take Lassie with her to the funeral. Next to Josie, Luke was Lassie's favourite person to be with and Lassie had changed since he had passed on. Lassie used to go with Josie every day to take Luke his lunch. Josie smiled as she remembered Lassie playing with Luke. Tomorrow was going to be hard on both of them.

What surprises awaited her there?

* * *

"So, Constable, why the Mounties?" Abigail asked when they had finished dinner.

"Yes, Constable, please tell us why someone like yourself would choose such an honourable profession." Elizabeth said smartly.

Abigail butted in. "And while we're at it, how did you come to be in Coal Valley?"

Jack turned to Elizabeth. "Why don't you answer that question?"

Abigail looked at Elizabeth, puzzled. "I'm sure I wouldn't know." She replied.

Jack looked back at Abigail. "In that case then, just lucky I guess, but as to being a Mountie, that is in my blood. My father made a career out of being a peace officer and my mother told me _"Never let a day go by without serving someone else._ "

Abigail nodded. "My son Peter considered joining the Royal North West Mounted Police, but his father convinced him that coal mining was also a noble profession."

"It is, one of the noblest." He paused. "I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how hard it must have been, having them both going to that mine every day."

"Well, most days I didn't think about it, you know. I just went about my business and I pretended I didn't know what they were doing or how far into that mountain they really were, and then their shift would end and in they'd come, sometimes laughing, sometimes grouching, always covered in that coal dust."

"Did they ever talk about the danger?"

"He didn't need to. It's an unspoken contract that every miner makes with himself and his family."

Jack waited a little bit then asked his next question. "Mrs. Stanton, can you tell me about the day of the explosion?"

Elizabeth interrupted the conversation. "I sure Mrs. Stanton doesn't want to discuss that subject right now."

"It's okay, Elizabeth, I don't mind." Abigail paused as the memories of that terrible day flooded her mind. "I remember everything. I was teaching the children in the church that day. The explosion was so loud that it shattered nearly all the windows in the town and shook the whole building. We thought it was an earthquake. Then it dawned on the children and I what had happened. No one said anything. They didn't need to. All we could think to do was run. There are no words to describe…" She waited and then continued. "What we felt in our hearts. But they never came home." She went into silence and a sort of trance, then she jumped up and began to clean the table before Jack and Elizabeth could see her tears.

When Jack left the house that night Elizabeth walked him out. "Thank you so much for coming Constable." She said, closing the door. "Was it really necessary to make her relive the worst day of her life?"

Jack snapped back. "I'm inquisitive. I gather information. It's part of who I am."

"It's insensitive, but apparently that it part of who you are too."

"You won't need to deal with me for much longer. I have put in a transfer request and I hope for a speedy answer."

Elizabeth was delighted. "Good, because this town has no need for a second-rate Mountie who runs from a challenge."

"I hardly think this town a challenge!"

"Really" Elizabeth walked down the stairs. "It seems to me that a town whose mine blows up and whose church burns to the ground would warrant investigation." She turned and went back inside the house, still angry.


	12. Chapter 11 (The Funeral)

**Chapter 11**

 **This chapter is rather intense…. Yep….It is!**

* * *

Josie slept late into the mourning, way over the time she normally got up to begin chores. When she awoke and got out of bed, the sun was just about to show its face over the tops of the trees. She leapt up, throwing the covers aside. As she ran to the door Lassie jumped up and barked, awoken by the commotion. "Sorry Lassie, no time to talk." Josie said, hurriedly putting on her coat while she ran outside to do the chores.

She got them completed with the accuracy and speed of lightning. As she hurried into the stable barn, Thowra threw his head up and whinnied. Josie went in, gave him a pat and led him out of his stall and into the tack room. She pulled down the old side saddle and blew the dust off it. Thowra snorted. "Oh, so that is how we're going to play it, huh?" Josie asked as Thowra sucked wind in to stop Josie from tightening up his girth. Josie knew he couldn't hold his breath forever, so she put the double bridle onto him while she waited, before leading him to the house to tie him up.

Josie hastily drank some of the bone soup while she got dressed and ready for the day. She put on the heavy black riding habit that her mother used to wear when she went out riding sidesaddle. When she was dressed, she quickly did her hair into a tight milkmaid's braid and weaved a black ribbon into it, as she did so, she heard Lassie whining and turned to see her sitting next to the door; as if she knew something was up.

Josie put Lassie's leather name collar around her dog's neck and gave her a quick brush. She was ready to go. As she went out the door, she grabbed the map, a long riding whip and her rifle. She put the rifle into its holder and checked the girth. It was loose so she tightened it up before she untied Thowra from the post and got on him. "Come, Lassie." She commanded as Thowra went into a smooth transition from halt into a fast canter down the trail.

Lassie barked once, then she leapt off the veranda and quickly caught up to her master's horse. By the time the tree of them had arrived at the cemetery, the service was about to start.

Josie quickly dismounted Thowra and knelt by her collie. "This is for me and you Lassie, go and sit in front of his coffin. Go." Lassie turned and loped into the grave yard to Luke's casket.

Henry Gowen huffed when he saw the dog. "What on earth is a dog doing here?"

"Mourning, like the rest of the people." Jack's reply silenced Henry from saying anything else.

Jack looked around for Josie. Abigail had told him about her and the dog. As he looked, Lassie laid down on the ground, whimpering, but no one noticed Josie hidden away in the trees, mounted on her black stallion. The Reverend started the service…...

* * *

"Looks like all the evidence is securely hidden." Mr Spurlock said to Henry in his office before the funeral.

"Well," Henry sat back into his chair "If all the people think that Luke didn't follow instruction then we will be in the clear."

"Well sir, we both know that is wrong." He replied, pouring himself some whisky.

"Yes, but no one can argue the fact. You saw Josie the other day. She has gone totally nuts. I don't think we will have any trouble blaming the disaster on Luke. I'll announce today that we found who was responsible, so as to get suspicions away from us and the company."

"Sounds risky." Mr. Spurlock smirked.

"You know what they say, " _The greater the risk..."_

" _The greater the reward_." Mr. Spurlock finished the saying.

"I'll tell the Reverend that after the service I have information regarding what happened in relation to the mine explosion." Henry smiled meanly, mentally rehearsing what he would say.

* * *

"Almighty God," the Reverend started the service, "our hope in every time of trouble, send thy Holy Spirit to comfort and strengthen us that we may have hope of life eternal and trust in your goodness and mercy. Please, take a moment of silence to remember your loved ones."

Josie looked around the cemetery. Abigail was there, as well as Kat and the women she had helped a few days ago. She could fell the tears welling up in her eyes and they started to run down her cheeks. She could see the headstones of her brother, mother and now father too.

The Reverend spoke again. "Mr Gowen has a few words he would like to say."

Henry stepped forward. "People of Coal Valley, according to the investigation of my men, this tragedy and disaster could have been prevented if Luke Blackwell had followed orders that I had given him. Luke Blackwell was a man of questionable morals and work ethics. Had he done as he was told, you ladies would still have your husbands. I knew that he was bad news and I was going to fire him as soon as I found someone to replace him."

There was a crash and the sound of leaves and twigs breaking and a sharp whistle. Lassie leapt up and ran after her master.

Jack looked past the trees at the quickly vanishing form. He looked at Abigail and she nodded. It was unspoken between them that she wanted him to talk to Josie. "Ha, git up Sargent." He put his horse onto Josie's trail.

Abigail turned on Gowen, "How dare you say such a thing like that about a girl's father, especially when he was a good man. You should have known that Josie would show up, even if she does stay hidden. Lassie came, didn't it even cross your mind that she would be here?"

Gowen looked at Abigail and starred at her. He needed to say something fast. "How don't you know of your husband had something to do with it as well?" He was going to say more when the Reverend stopped him. "That's enough Henry, this funeral is over." The Reverend didn't know that this was what Henry wanted to say. He glared at Henry. He backed down and the people began to disperse.

Elizabeth looked at her friend. Abigail looked shaken and fearful. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine." Abigail replied, knowing inside herself that it was a lie. Elizabeth placed her arm around Abigail and they started for home.

* * *

Josie was terrified when she turned and saw the Mountie following her. She knew that this chase was going to last a long time. When she got around a corner, she jumped off her horse.

"Lassie, hide here, then go home." She gave Lass a pat, then she mounted her horse again, nudging him on one side with her heel and giving him a light tap on the other with her whip, turning him around.

Josie looked back down the trail. The Mountie was still following her! With a cry of frustration, she turned Thowra once more and kicked him into a gallop. She knew now where she would lead this man who obviously was determined to catch her.

A little further up ahead was a deep 18 ft wide ravine. Thowra had jumped it once before when Josie was being chased by outlaws. As they rounded a bend out of the forest and onto the plain towards the ravine, she stopped the stallion and waited. She didn't want Thowra to jump if he didn't need too.

Josie could hear the tell-tail sound of hoofbeats coming fast and saw the Mountie coming over the rise. She wheelied her horse around and set Thowra for the jump, spurring him on with her whip. Three. Two. One. Leap. For a moment, they were suspended in air, then he landed safe on the other side.

Jack and his horse slid to a stop, mud and grass flying into the air. He dismounted his horse and looked as Josie cantered away, back into some trees. He looked down to the bottom of the ravine and shook his head. One thing for sure was that Josie was a fearless rider. He gave Sargent a pat, "Nice work, old fella but she and that horse are just too much for us." He gave a little chuckle at the thought of being outridden by a twelve year old girl in a skirt and riding side-saddle. That was one thing he would never live down if people knew about it.

He loosened Sergeant's girth and began to walk him back in the direction of town.

* * *

When Josie had gotten to the safety of the trees, she stopped Thowra and looked back. The Mountie pulled his horse to a stop at the ravine. He was not going to follow!

She felt Thowra's neck. It was a bit warm, but his breathing was almost normal. He pranced in place, eager to run again. Josie gave him a pat to quieten him, then she turned around, opened the saddle-bag and pulled out the map. She rested it on her leg and looked. She was not far away from the mark that was written on the map.

She folded up the map and gathered the reins in one hand, pointing Thowra in the direction the map showed. Thowra cantered on until Josie found the huge oak tree shown on the map. She pulled him to a stop and dis-mounted, having a stretch as she did so. Then she pulled out the trowel out of the saddlebag, sat down; pulled her skirt out of the way and started to dig.

Josie had only dug down about a foot when the trowel hit something solid. She dropped the trowel aside and moved away the rest of the dirt by hand. As she cleared the dirt, she could see it was a metal box she had hit. She pulled it out and opened it up, as she did so, gold coins rolled out!

She got up and emptied the box's contents into her saddle bag, then she replaced the box and buried it again. Thowra snorted as Josie got on him again, she gave him a pat and they headed for home.

When she got back to the house, she hid the gold in the secret cupboard with the other money and the recording machine. Happy that it was safely hidden, she changed out of the riding habit into a light everyday winter dress and went out hunting for something to eat, leaving Wolf and Lassie at home.

As she was creeping through the forest, following the tracks of a deer, she failed to see the metal teeth of a bear trap hidden just the other side of a log. She stepped into it, setting it off and it caught her leg. As she fell, her head knocked into the tree it was next to, knocking her out cold.

* * *

It was nearing dusk when Jack walked back into town, leading his tired horse. Abigail saw him tie the horse to the post outside the jail and went over to him. "You two look like Josie dragged you through Hell and back." She said concerned. "Did you manage to speak to her?"

"No." Jack replied, pulling the saddle off his horse. "Man, can she ride! That girl leapt her horse over an eighteen-ft. wide ravine that was over a-hundred-and- fifty feet deep! That was when I stopped following her. I'm sorry that I couldn't talk to her."

"No, Constable," Abigail replied, "I know you did your best and considering that she was riding the fastest horse in Coal Valley…." Her voice trailed off.

"When I got close enough to see her face, I have never seen such pain, terror and fear in a child's eyes; or any persons for that matter. What Mr. Gowen said must have upset her terrible. To jump a horse over a ravine that wide, she must have rather die than to have me speak to her."

"Poor girl. I don't know how she is going to survive out there all by herself this winter. I know they didn't yet get their winter supply in, so she probably would not have much to eat. I have thought about letting her move in with me until we find out what we are going to do with her, but the way she is she could be very dangerous"

Jack suddenly realized something he hadn't thought of before. "She was probably worried that I wanted to send her to an orphanage, now it makes perfect sense why she was so eager to get as far away from me as possible."

"Jack, I have to go home now, and I'll be out of town tomorrow, so would you like to come over for dinner day after next? We can talk more then…"

"Sure." Jack replied, taking his saddle-bags into his office. Abigail then left for home, worried about Josie.

* * *

It was just after sunrise the next morning when Josie woke up. She opened her eyes, squinting and trying to get her eyes to focus. Her leg was throbbing bad and as she looked at the trap, she knew there was no way she would be able to get herself out of it. She looked for her rifle so she could try and alert someone to herself. It was almost in reach. She tried to grab it but couldn't. She laid back down to think over her options.

Josie remembered her dog whistle and searched for it in her pocket, but it wasn't there. She had no hope of even using her dog to get help, and even less of someone finding her before it was too late. She put her head back down and stopped fighting her tiredness, letting overwhelming sleep take her into its clutches.

* * *

When Josie didn't come home that afternoon, Lassie knew something was horribly wrong. Her training and obedience had kept her on the veranda of the cabin, but now as the sun set she told Wolf in doggie language that he was in charge and ran off to track down her master.

It rained during the night, washing away the scent and Lassie had a hard time finding her. When she found her master the next evening, she was cold and unconscious. Lassie knew she needed to do something.

* * *

Josie was finally awoken by Lassie jumping up and down on her. "Lass, stop that. Down." She commanded. Lassie stopped and laid down whining. Josie quickly as best she could, tore off a strip of cloth from her skirt and gave it to Lassie. It started to rain again.

"Find Abigail and bring her back here. Go." She said with urgency in her voice. Lassie caught onto that and barked twice and left, running through the forest.

Josie looked again at her leg. It was red and hot and a lot of blood was over and around the wound, then she sat up and vomited. When she finished she laid herself back down and looked at the rainclouds drenching her. "Why on earth did I ask Lassie to get Mrs. Stanton?" She didn't know the answer and so she thought on that as she went to sleep.


	13. Chapter 12 (Rescued)

**Chapter 12**

 **Okay, another intense chapter...**

 **Thanks to the people that have taken the time to give me reviews. It is very much appreciated! I may not be able to update anytime soon as I have music exams to study for.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Lassie ran through the forest to Coal Valley. She stopped at the edge of a little creek and whined, she really did not want to cross, but Josie was relying on her to get help. She trotted downstream a little further until she found a place where she could jump over. She backed up a little and jumped, but she miss-judged it and didn't quite make it and she fell in. She gave a little yelp as the cold water gave her a shock, but she quickly swam out and ran on.

As she ran up the bank, the sharp rocks cut her paws, but still she continued. It was very late in the afternoon when she got to the rowhouses and the miners were returning home from their shift. Lassie wasn't bothered by them and she found Abigail's house. She ran up the stairs onto the porch. She jumped with her front paws onto the door and barked with urgency...

* * *

Abigail was sitting in the living room with Jack and Elizabeth. The storm was still raging outside and the wind was starting to pick up. They were quite happy to be inside and out of it.

As the three of them were talking, Abigail's thoughts turned to the girl. "Jack I've been thinking about Josie a lot lately. Would you please come with me and I'll go and see her?" She asked.

"Of course." He replied. He was about to say more when a huge bang sounded at the door. A dog began to bark loudly at the door. Jack got up out of the couch and went to the window, he looked out. It was Lassie that was making all the fuss. "It's okay, it's just Josie's dog." He opened up the door and Lassie ran in, her coat still wet from her dip in the river and the slight rain.

Abigail went over to her and Lassie gave her the piece of cloth. She gave the material to Jack and looked at the dog. Lassie's paws were cut and bleeding and her long fur had a mix of mud, sticks and leaves through it.

Jack interrupted what she was about to say, "Josephine must be hurt. There is blood on the cloth." He looked up at Abigail. She got up from kneeling down by Lassie. "Elizabeth, look after the dinner while I'm gone. Take it out of the oven in ten minutes." She said, putting on her coat.

Jack started out the door with Lassie beside him. "Jack, I'm coming with you, she knows me."

Jack didn't argue with her as they ran to town to borrow some horses. As they ran down the road, the rain stopped, but the wind began to pick up. When they got to the livery, Jack informed the blacksmith about what was going on and he gave them a horse for Abigail to ride.

When they both were mounted on their horses, Abigail told the dog to take them to Josie. Lassie quickly started back to her master, with Jack and Abigail following. The dog led them quite a fair way until they came around a bend and they saw Josie on the ground. Lassie lopped over to the girl and licked her face.

Abigail ran over to Josie. She was drenched and her breathing shallow and fast. She felt Josie's forehead. It was very hot. "Josie, Josie, honey, wake up!" She tried to coax her to awaken, but she didn't. "Abigail, I need some help please." Jack asked. Abigail turned around and nearly threw up when she saw Josie's leg. Jack saw her face go green. "When I open the trap, remove her leg." He commanded. Abigail nodded and swallowed hard. "Ick!"

"One, two, three." Jack pressed down and the trap opened. Abigail carefully peeled Josie's leg out, her hands shaking. When Josie was released, Jack closed the trap and pulled it out of the ground. Josie's leg started to bleed again badly and Abigail tore some cloth off Josie's drees and made a quick tourniquet.

Jack lead over Abigail's horse and helped her up. He then picked up Josie and placed her into Abigail's arms. Jack mounted his horse and picked up the reins of Abigail's horse and they cantered back to town.

It started to rain again and Jack hurried the horses. When they got back to the rowhouses, it was dark. They stopped at Abigail's house. "Elizabeth, get the door please!"

Elizabeth opened the door and came out, peering through the rain. "Oh, my God!" She said when she saw them with Josie. "Get Kat hurry!" Abigail instructed. Jack got off his horse and Abigail passed Josie down to Jack, then she dis-mounted and took him inside, showing him the way up to the stairs to the bedroom. She pulled the covers off the bed and Jack laid Josie in it. He turned to Abigail. "I need to get the horses back to the stable. I'll be at the jail if you need me."

"Please send a telegram for the doctor and let him know that he is needed." Abigail requested.

"Sure" Jack replied leaving.

* * *

Abigail changed Josie out of her wet clothes and into one of her old night gowns, being careful not to hurt her leg anymore that it already was.

She heard Kat and Elizabeth racing up the stairs. She turned around just as they entered the door. "Oh my gosh!" Kat said as she looked at Josie. She walked over to the girl and looked at her leg. The wound was bleeding again and had puss oozing out of it. Elizabeth put her hand over her mouth and ran out, retching.

Kat's attention turned back to Josie. "How on earth did this happen?"

"We found her caught in a bear trap out in the forest, about four miles from here." Abigail sounded upset. "She must have been out hunting, she had her rifle with her. It's my fault why she is hurt. If I had gone out sooner and brought her to live with me….."

"Don't blame yourself, Abigail we all have had a hard time with what has happened…. Right now, Josie needs us to help her, we can't let her down." Kat replied putting her arm around Abigail. She looked down at Josie, "We have a hard night ahead."

They heard Elizabeth coming back. "What do you need me to do?"

"Boil water, lots of it; and get Jack to come, we need to cauterize the wound and then get her fever down." Kat replied.

"All right, I won't be long." Elizabeth said, leaving. Kat followed her.

Abigail went to her medicine chest and got out some painkillers for Josie. She went back and sat on the chair beside Josie's bed. She poured a little bit out of the bottle and onto a spoon and gave it to Josie, then she stroked her throat until she swallowed it.

Kat soon returned with some very hot water and set about cleaning the wound. Even though Josie was deeply unconscious, she still flinched. "I hope the trap wasn't poisoned." Kat said to herself.

Abigail looked up. "What would a trap that had poison on it look like?"

"It would have had a green, sticky gum like paste over the jaws and teeth of the trap."

Abigail relaxed some, remembering that the trap didn't have what Kat had described. "Well it didn't. So that is a good thing?"

"Very much a good thing. I think that if it was poisoned, Josie would not still be alive." Kat continued to clean Josie's wound and as Elizabeth retuned with Jack, she gave her prognosis. "The wound is severely infected. The teeth of the trap have caused considerable damage to the muscle and the gash goes right through to the bone. I just hope there is no nerve damage." She turned to Jack. "Do you know how to cauterize a wound?"

"Yes, I did learn that and basic first aid at the academy. Elizabeth told me I was needed, so I bought my kit with me. Oh, Abigail." She looked up at him. "Abigail, I got an answer from the Doctor, he is riding out now and should be here by morning."

"Good, I hope he gets here in time..." She replied.

Jack gave his knives and the cauterizing tool to Kat, "Go and disinfect these please, in brandy or iodine."

Kat nodded and went down stairs. She soon retuned. "Abigail, hold Josie while I cut away the dead flesh."

Abigail got onto the bed and held Josie as Jack did what he needed to do. Josie didn't move much, but she whimpered as he cauterized the wound. "Jack, her lips are starting and finger nails are turning blue…" Abigail exclaimed with fear evident in her voice. Jack looked at Josie's face. Abigail was right. Even though Josie had a raging fever, her lips were indeed blue. "What does that mean, Jack?"

"She's starting to get pneumonia." He replied grimly as he started to dress and bandage Josie's leg. "Get Kat to make some poultices for it and change them every two hours. I'll send you the doctor as soon as he arrives." Jack said as he cleaned his stuff away.

Kat had already left after Jack had arrived, and soon he left too, leaving Abigail to watch Josie. Elizabeth went to bed, but Abigail stayed with Josie, holding her hand.

* * *

As Jack walked back to the jail, a million questions raced through his mind. It didn't make much sense why or how Josie had gotten herself caught in the trap. He remembered that there was no sign saying that a trap was buried next to the tree. He made a mental note to go back and double check for investigational purposes.

But back to the girl. She was so skinny! She was just skin stretched over a skeleton. She must have been starving before they had found her. Well, if she got better, they would need to figure out what they were going to do with her. She would have to go to and orphanage if no one in Coal Valley would take her in. That was something that as a Mountie he was required to do, but as a human being he did not want that to happen.

* * *

Abigail spent most of the night sponging Josie down and changing the cloths on her forehead. She knew she could never forgive herself if Josie died as a result of her injuries and she was terribly mad at herself for not taking Josie on sooner.

By the time morning came around, the doctor had arrived in Coal Valley and went to see Josie. Elizabeth opened the door and let him in when he arrived. As they came into the room, Abigail was asleep in the chair beside Josie. The doctor stopped at the door and Elizabeth went over to her. "Abigail, the doctor and Jack are here to see Josephine."

Abigail woke up, startled. She yawned and brushed the sleep out of her eyes. Then she stood up and started to un-bandage Josie's leg to show the doctor, still yawning.

Doctor Hans walked over to the bed. "Constable Thornton filled me in with what happened." He said, examining Josie's wound. "It looks pretty bad. It's a good thing that Thornton cauterized the wound as soon as you rescued her. I can see the starting traces of gangrene here." He paused. "If gangrene really sets in, she could lose her leg or worse."

"Oh, God." Abigail started to sniffle. Elizabeth went over to her and put her arm around Abigail.

Doctor Hans pulled his stethoscope out of his bag and listened to Josie's heart and lungs. "She's gone into shock and I think that she is starting to have pneumonia as well. I'll give her an injection to stimulate her heart and something to get the fever down." He pulled the stethoscope out of his ears and put it back into his bag and pulled out a needle and bottle. "How old is she?" He asked.

Jack looked at Abigail. She thought hard. "She turned twelve a few months ago, but she is very malnourished so she looks older than she really is."

Dr. Hans nodded and measured out the correct amount of stimulant and injected it into Josie's vein in her arm. He closed up his bag before speaking again. "Keep it clean. Use iodine and poultices on it and give her some of this to get her fever down." He handed Abigail a little bag. "If her fever gets any higher, I'll give her something stronger. I'll be staying at the Hotel for a few days while I do my rounds. You can call on me at any time." He picked up his bag and Jack walked him out.

* * *

Abigail sat down again beside Josie, she took Josie's hand and began to pray. "Dear Lord, please heal Josie and bring her back to full health. I know that this might seem like I'm asking a lot, but Lord now that she has no family and I have no family, so maybe we can make a family of each other. Please make her better. Please. Amen." Abigail lifted her head and saw Elizabeth standing beside her.

Elizabeth put her hand on Abigail's shoulder and Abigail placed her hand on top of Elizabeth's. "In the time that I have known you, I know that if Josie gets better, you will love her as your own child. We have to have hope and pray."

"Thank you, Elizabeth." Abigail whispered to her and stood up. "You must be hungry, I'll go and get you something for breakfast." She said, going down the stairs. Elizabeth changed the cloth on Josie's head while she waited for her to return.

Abigail came back up later with a tray of food. She sat it on the table. Elizabeth noticed the amount of food on it. "Are you going to eat?"

"No, I'm not hungry." Abigail sat down, looking very exhausted.

"You need to eat. Josie need you to be strong to help her. Come on, I want you to eat at least this muffin." Elizabeth held it up. "Come on."

Abigail sighed. "Your very persistent!" She took it and began to eat it gingerly.


	14. Chapter 13 (Healing)

**Chapter 13**

 **Hi everyone. Here is chapter 13. Thank you to the people who have given me reviews, it is greatly appreciated.**

 **Some questions. Does Josie get better? What does Jack get scared by? How does Abigail feel about Josie?**

 **Read on to find out.**

* * *

The day passed by very slowly, almost as if time was just creeping by. Finally, it was nearing dusk and Abigail went down with Elizabeth to make some dinner, while Josie was still sleeping. They had just finished their preparations and were going to sit down to eat. "Elizabeth, would you please set the table. I'm going to go and check on Josie." Abigail asked.

"Sure." She replied as she opened up the draw to get the knives and forks out.

As Abigail came through the door, she could see Josie tossing and turning on the bed. She hurried over to her and checked her temperature. It was nearing 107 degrees. "Elizabeth! Come here!" Abigail yelled as Josie started to convulse.

Elizabeth heard Abigail and ran up the stairs. As she came to the door, she was about to say something but was stopped by Abigail.

"Get Dr. Hans. He is staying at the Hotel. Hurry!"

Elizabeth nodded and ran back down the stairs and left the house to get the doctor.

* * *

Dr. Hans was having a drink in the saloon when Elizabeth ran in, slamming the doors as they swung back. "Doc, its Josie. Her fever has gotten worse and she has started to have convulsions."

"Excuse me, Gentlemen." He said, addressing the people at the table he was at. "I'll just get my bag." He said to Elizabeth as he trotted up the stairs to the room he was staying in; he soon retuned and Elizabeth and he ran back to Abigail's rowhouse.

As they came into Josie's room, Abigail looked up at him. He looked at Josie, her convulsions were getting weaker. He opened his bag without saying a word and gave Josie and injection to bring the fever down. "How long has she been like this?" He finally asked Abigail.

"She was fine an hour ago. I went down to make dinner and when I came back her fever had gotten higher and she had a seizure. I sent Elizabeth to get you and…" Her voice trailed off as she stroked back the hair on Josie's forehead.

"Mrs. Stanton, Josie has got pneumonia; and combined with the infection from her leg, its caused her to have convulsions. I don't know how to tell you this, but Josie might not make it and if she does, she could have permanent brain damage from the fever." He tried to tell her as gently as he could, but when a person must deliver news like that, it's never easy.

Abigail looked up from Josie, with tears streaming down her face and falling onto Josie's. She had started to love little Josie like a daughter in the time that she had known her. Elizabeth went over to her and hugged her tight.

* * *

Dr. Hans left, leaving Elizabeth to help Abigail and he went back to town. He ran in to Constable Thornton at the saloon. "Doc, how's Josie?"

"Jack, she's not good. Her fever has gone up and she has had a seizure; and on top of that she has pneumonia too."

"How's Abigail coping?"

"Not too good, I'm afraid. Elizabeth is a good comfort to her. Maybe you should drop by and see her tomorrow."

"Good idea. Doc, tell me. How much change does Josie have in recovering completely?"

"I'm sorry Jack, but not much I'm afraid. I really need to go and get some sleep. Good night, Constable." Dr. Hans said as he went up the stairs.

"Night, doctor." Jack replied.

* * *

Abigail spent the night almost the same as the last; praying, sponging Josie down with cool water and changing the rags that were on the back of her neck. She knew now that she could never forgive herself if Josie died.

Abigail was really mad at herself for not going and checking on Josie from time to time; and now Josie was hurt and Abigail felt that it was her fault. At around three in the morning, she finally couldn't hold back the feeling of sleepiness and drifted off to the land of Nod.

When Elizabeth came in at around six, Abigail was still asleep in the chair beside Josie. Elizabeth went over to Josie and took her temperature. It was normal and Josie was sleeping peacefully.

"Abigail, Abigail, wake up. Josie's fever has broken!" Elizabeth gently whispered to her friend.

Abigail murmured as she awoke. "Thank you, God, Thank you." She said with relief in her voice. She got up and started to un-bandage Josie's leg. The wound was still red, swollen and hot, but it wasn't as bad as the day before. The two ladies stayed with Josie for about an hour, then Abigail went downstairs to make breakfast and she left Elizabeth to watch Josie. After they had eaten, Elizabeth left for school with Abigail's message to deliver to the doctor.

* * *

"Hi, Doctor." Abigail said as Dr. Hans walked in through the bedroom door. "Josie's fever broke last night and I've left the wound un-dressed this morning so you can look at it."

The doctor walked over the bed. "Mrs. Stanton, I have to say that I'm quite surprised and pleased that the fever broke. If her leg heals up, she should fully recover from that, but the pneumonia will take a little more to get over. The only thing though is that we won't know if she has any brain damage until she wakes up."

"How long will it take until she does wake up?" Abigail asked.

"I'm not sure. With her injuries, her body will need to heal up some. It is different for everyone but I think maybe this afternoon or tomorrow." The doc replied. "I have to go to Buxton today, I received a telegram last night that my services are required. Here is some more of that powder you can give her if she gets a fever again." The doctor pulled a little brown bag out of his pock end placed it on the table. When he finished his examination of Josie he left and Abigail walked him out.

* * *

It was afternoon when she went downstairs and got a dish of water for Lassie. Lassie whined to acknowledge her as she came back into the room. The dog had stayed in the corner, refusing to leave her master. Abigail put the dish down and got some bandages so she could change the dressings on Lassie's paws.

Lassie got up and went over to Abigail and let her clean and dress her paws. "Good girl, Lass" Abigail praised her after she had finished. Lassie sat quietly, her tail wagging as she relished the attention. As Abigail stood up to leave, the bowl clattered to the floor.

"Ma? Ma!"

Abigail looked up at the noise and went over to Josie. "Josie, its okay. Its me, Mrs. Stanton. Abigail Stanton. Your safe here, everything is going to be alright." She said to calm her as she noticed how terrified Josie looked. "Would you like some water?"

Josie nodded yes and Abigail propped her up and put the cup to her lips. When she had had enough water, Abigail laid her backdown.

"Lassie?" Josie asked.

Lassie heard her name, got up and jumped onto the bed.

"Lassie is right here beside you, darling. You need to have a sleep now and you will feel better."

"The horses, the cows, they all need feeding, I need to go look after them." Josie said, trying to get up.

"Josie, it's fine. I will get someone to go and feed your animals. You need to rest."

"Watch out for Thowra, whistle twice." Josie mumbled as she went to sleep.

When Abigail had made sure that Josie was asleep and comfortable, she went downstairs and began to make a snack for her and Elizabeth when she returned from school. As she was standing there, humming a little song while she cut the bread, she heard a knock on the door. She put the breadknife down and went and opened it. "Oh, Hi Jack, Come in. I was just about to put the kettle on. Would you like some tea?"

"Thank you Abigail, that would be nice." He said as he came in. "How is Josie?"

"She woke up for a little bit this afternoon, but she is sleeping now. Her leg is much better; although it will take a while for it to heal completely." She replied as she put the kettle onto the stove.

"Is there anything you would like me to help with?"

"Not really, but I do have a favour I need to ask you about.."

"What's that?" Jack asked as he sat down at the table.

"Josie is quite worried about her animals. She doesn't have anyone to look after them at the ranch. Would you be able to go and feed them?"

"Sure. Can you please draw me a map so I can find her place?"

"Okay." Abigail replied as she got a piece of paper and a pencil. She drew a small map and wrote down the directions. She handed it to Jack and went over to the stove to make their tea.

Jack read the instructions carefully.

 _Follow the Cattle trail to the old oak tree. Turn left. Go about an eighth of a mile and go right and the farm is just on top of the hill._

"Milk?"

Jack looked up. "Yes, thankyou Abigail."

Abigail handed Jack his cup of tea and a cookie, she then placed hers on the table and sat down. "Oh, I almost forgot. Josie said something about Thowra, that's her black stallion, and she said something about whistling twice. That's all she said, but I would keep an eye out for Wolf and Cougar."

"Wolf? Cougar? I'm guessing that their names are what they are?"

"Yes. Wolf is a pure white Buffalo Wolf, he must have a little bit of the Artic Wolf blood in him, but he is huge. He weighs nearly a hundred-and-fifty pounds. He is quite devoted to Josie, but suspicions of strangers and he has never been wrong about a person being good or bad yet."

"I have heard about Buffalo wolves, but I have never seen one. How do you think he'll react to me?"

"He should be okay with you, you seem like a quite a good person."

"Oh, thanks Abigail." He laughed.

"No, I mean that Wolf will like you once he gets to know you."

"That's a relief. Now what about Cougar?"

"Cougar is a full grown female Mountain lion. Josie found her as a day-old kitten. Her mother had abandoned her and so Josie took care of her, but the strange thing with Cougar is that she won't eat meat."

"She won't eat meat? I have never heard of a mountain lion like that before."

"Cougar is special, but you probably won't see her. She likes to stay hidden most of the time. If she wants you to see her, she'll be around."

"Well, I best get going. Thank you for the tea and cookies and please give my best to Josie." Jack said as she rose from his chair and grabbed his hat.

"Your welcome Jack." Abigail replied as she got up and walked him to the door.

After Jack had gone, Abigail went upstairs and stayed with Josie until Elizabeth arrived.

* * *

As Jack rode at a canter down the trail to the farm, the wind began to gently move the trees and he could hear the sound of twigs breaking. "I'm getting the feeling that we're not alone out here, Sarge." He stopped his horse and looked around. "Who's there?" He asked, peering into the trees.

Sargent threw his head up and snorted just as a huge black horse jumped through the hedge in front of them. The stallion reared and bellowed, striking the air with his front hooves and dancing in place on his hind.

Jack sat in awe of the beautiful horse, until that horse came closer, prancing, bucking and snorting. As well as showing off to the gelding that Jack was riding that he was the top horse in the place, he was threatening Jack.

Jack ducked his head as a black hoof swung over him. He remembered then what Abigail had said and whistled twice. The change in the stallion was instant. He stopped, stood still and thought. Then he slowly walked up to Jack and gently brushed him with his muzzle, as if he was apologizing for his bad behaviour.

Jack but out his hand to stroke the stallion, but he wheeled around and galloped off down the trail. Jack shook his head and chucked as he motioned Sargent forward at a slower pace. Sargent cantered up the hill to the farm and Jack stopped him at the house and tied him to the hitching post. He dismounted and gave a whistle as he looked at the huge house.

The house was completely made out of logs and it looked like a log cabin, only about ten times bigger. As Jack walked down to the barn, he heard the sound of a dog running and Wolf came around the corner. Jack stopped and let the dog come to him.

Wolf trotted over and sniffed Jack's hands. He could detect the faint smell of Josie on him, so this person must be okay. "Hello, Wolf." Jack said. Wolf whined and sat down. Jack bent over and gave Wolf a scratch under the chin and Wolf licked him back.

Jack stood up and continued on to the barn, now with Wolf running alongside him.


	15. Chapter 14 (Meetings)

**Chapter 14**

 **Well, here is Chapter 14. Enjoy.**

 **I have been watching an Australian tv series called "Banjo Paterson's Man from Snowy River" It is an awesome show! If you have never watched it before, I highly recommend it! I will have some characters come in the next chapter or so that are from it….**

 **Disclaimer… All thanks to the people at Hallmark Channel for an awesome show. I do not own any characters, except the ones created by my own imagination.**

* * *

Josie spent the next few days sleeping, eating and coughing from her pneumonia. About two weeks later, she started to feel better and she was able to sit up and move around a little bit.

A fortnight later, Jack came by to talk to Abigail.

"Have you thought about what you are going to do with Josephine. Doctor Hans was in contact with me and he wants to know what is going to happen, as he has to report to the authorities."

"No, not yet." Abigail replied as she put a log into the stove.

"Something will need to be done. She may have to go to an orphanage. Do you want me to contact a few of them?"

"No." Abigail replied strongly, as she got some flour out of the cupboard. "Jack, can you hand me that bowl please?"

Jack gave her the requested item. "Well, I spoke with all the people that would be applicable in Coal Valley and no one has room or would be able to take care of her."

"Jack, I have thought of becoming her guardian, I was going to talk to you about that later. I defiantly do not what her having to go to an orphanage. At her age, no one would adopt her and what would happen to her animals and her ranch? And if they did, it would be more than likely for the wrong reasons." Abigail replied as she sifted the flour into the bowl. "Would you please organize the legal side of that for me please?"

"Sure, Abigail. It will take a load off my shoulders to get that out of the way. How is Josie?" He asked as he handed her the milk.

"Thanks." She replied in reference to the milk. "She is okay for what she has been through. She was starving before we found her in the forest. She said that most days she didn't eat anything at all because she didn't have any food. The reason why she was caught in the bear trap was because she had gone out hunting to find a deer."

"Funny thing about that bear trap. It had no name on it and no notice to let people know that the trap was there. That is illegal."

Abigail nodded, that was strange. "Josie is getting worried about her animals again. I told her that you were looking after them, but she wants you to keep and close eye on a horse called Cindy. She is a bright chestnut/bay horse with a blaze and no leg markings. She has a LB brand on her shoulder inside the shape of a horse shoe and a little hair whirl inside it. Josie said she is expecting a foal, so she will need to be put in the stable and watched carefully. Maybe you could take Gabe with you again and he could bring her into town to the livery until the foal is born." Abigail replied.

"Sure, that's a better idea. I'll arrange with Mr. Custer to get a stall for her. Well, Abigail, I must get going. Thank you for the tea. I'll be back around later." Jack said as he rose from the table.

Abigail wiped her hands on her apron and walked Jack to the door. She finished making her bread and placed it into the oven; then she went upstairs to Josie. As she came in through the door, Josie turned her head at the noise and smiled at Abigail as she came in.

"I'm so sorry I have caused you to worry as much as I have. When Ma and Pa died, I didn't want to come into town to ask for help because I was worried that they would send me to an orphanage. All I have now is the ranch and everything that is on it. I don't have any other family and I like it here in this town and I like the people, well, all except Mr. Gowan. He is just nasty. I have no one." Josie looked away, but Abigail had seen the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Josie, I lost my family in the mine explosion, just like you lost your father in the same one. I spoke to Constable Thornton today about me becoming your legal guardian. You can become part of my family if you would like that, and you won't have to leave Coal Valley." Abigail said as she gave Josie a hug.

Josie nodded. "I would like that." Then she sort of like, shut down; as if she didn't want to discuss it anymore. It took her quite a few minutes to regain her composure. "Mrs. Stanton, if I gave you a recipe for some muffins, would you please make them for me?"

"Sure, Josie, and you may call me Abigail. Mrs. Stanton makes me sound so ancient."

"Can you hand me a pencil and some paper please?"

Abigail nodded and went out of the room. When Josie was sure that she was gone, she sat up and got out of bed and tried to walk. Her leg still hurt terribly, but she wanted and needed to move around, because she felt that if she didn't, she would go insane!

She was able to walk around a little bit and she was concentrating so hard that she didn't hear Abigail returning up the stairs and she was scared out of her wits when she turned and saw her behind her.

"You shouldn't be out of bed, Josie." Abigail scolded, ushering her back over to her bed.

"I know, I know. I'm just sick and tired of being cooped up in here. I feel like an eagle trapped in a cage. I want to move around." She whined and she climbed back into bed.

Abigail handed her the paper and pencil. Josie wrote the recipe down and gave it back to Abigail, who headed back downstairs and started to make the muffins.

Josie heaved a huge sigh and began to doodle on the paper with her pencil. She looked over at Lassie. "Oh, Lassie, I'm so bored." She complained. Lassie got up and went over to her. Josie patted the quilt next to her and Lassie jumped up onto the bed. Josie began to stroke her dogs' coat, then she got an idea. She flicked over a page in the book and began to draw…..

* * *

As Abigail pulled out her bread from the oven, she heard a knock on the door. She put the bread she was carrying onto the table and went over and opened it.

"Oh, Hi Kat. Come on in." Abigail said as she stepped aside to let her guest in. "I'm just doing some cooking."

"Thanks Abigail. What are you baking?" She asked as she followed Abigail into the kitchen.

"Josie asked me to make up some muffins that she likes, so I am."

"How is Josie?"

"A bit better today. I caught her walking earlier and I made her get back into bed. She's bored and tired of being in there, so I'm trying to think of something to distract her. She has already read all the books in the house, I have never seen a child read as much as she does. She read through Dickins _"A Tale of Two Cities"_ and _"Shakespeare's Sonnets"_ in a day. Oh, by the way, Constable Thornton came by earlier and he is organizing for me to become Josie's guardian." Abigail replied as she returned to her cooking.

Kat thought for a moment. "I made some cookies for the kids and I thought Josie might like some. I also brought over another type of poultice for her leg. I have some books back at home that she probably would like. I'll just go and get them." Kat left and soon returned with the books.

"Do you think she would be okay with me going in and talking to her?" Kat asked as she stirred the muffin mix in the bowl.

"I think she would be okay with it. She is not so shy and reclusive as she was a few months ago. The reason why she was so terrified was that she thought we would send her away if she came and asked for help."

"It's mixed up." Kat replied as she handed the bowl back to Abigail. "I won't be too long."

"Take all the time you need." Abigail called back as Kat went upstairs.

Josie was on her fifth drawing when she heard a knock on the door frame. "Come in."

As Kat went in, she could see that Josie was a little unsure about her. "Hi Josephine. How are you feeling?"

"Hi Mrs. Montgomery, I am feeling really BORED!" Josie emphasised the word.

Kat pulled the cloth off the basket she was carrying and sat down in the chair beside the bed. "I made some cookies up for the kids at school and I thought you might like some." She said as she handed a cookie to Josie.

Josie ate the cookie greedily. "Mmm, there good." She mumbled. When she finished she looked up at Kat like she was trying to remember something. "Kat…. You're the person that Pa got to try and help Ma."

"Yes, I'm so sorry that I couldn't help her. I wish that I could have done more."

"It's okay. At least my family are together again." Josie started to sniffle.

Kat decided to change the conversation. "When Constable Thornton went out to your ranch, Gabe saw your pinto tri-coloured colt. He tried to pat him, put the colt bit him on the arm. Not too hard, luckily."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I should have mentioned to Mrs. Stanton that the horses are not to be disturbed too much. Most of them are unbroken and skittish. The colt that bit Gabe would be Sprite. He is a 2-year-old and my father rescued him from his abusive owner who used to beat and starve him into submission. I have left him in with the other horses until I have the time to re-train him and get him quiet. I've spent the last three months before my accident harvesting the crops. I had nearly two hundred acres of grain to harvest by myself, so that didn't leave much time for anything else." Josie spoke of her achievement lightly, but Kat looked at her in amazement.

"I'll make sure that Gabe is more careful around your horses when he goes back out with the Constable. I brought you over some books." Kat said as she got them out from basket as well. She handed them to Josie.

Josie looked at the books. There was about five of them that Josie had heard of, but never read. " _Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, The Call of the Wild, White Fang, The Horse in America'._ Boy, I think these will keep me busy." She said as she began to read _The Call of the Wild._

"I'll need to change the dressing on your leg. I brought over a new poultice for it."

Josie nodded her head, to absorbed in her book to reply and Kat carefully un-bandaged Josie's leg and peeled off the old oatmeal poultice. The wound was healing nicely now and Kat was quite pleased with how it looked.

Josie looked up from her book when Kat had finished changing the dressing. "When will you and Mrs. Stanton allow me to get up?"

"Give it another two or so days, then you can do a little bit of walking. Don't do too much, because the muscles are still healing and they will need to get strong again."

"Oh, okay." Josie replied, a little disappointed. "I really need to get back to the ranch and check on the animals. I know that the Constable has been doing it, but I still worry and miss them. Especially my stallion, and I need to get some of the young horses trained and ready for sale."

"Yes, your stallion gave Constable Thornton a fright when he first went out there, but the Constable leaves him alone and the stallion stays away." Kat said as she bandaged Josie's leg. "All done."

"Thank you, Mrs. Montgomery for helping Mrs. Stanton with me."

"Your welcome." She replied as she gathered her things and when she left, Josie began to read the book again from where she had left off.


	16. Chapter 15 (Plans)

**Chapter 15**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Some dialogue from movie one. I own nothing of it. All rights and credit go to the Hallmark Channel and everyone associated with it…**

 **Just for people wondering, (if you are) I have decided to place Coal Valley in Alberta, somewhere between Calgary, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge... That's a long way from Hamilton... lol**

* * *

Elizabeth and Abigail were washing the clothes two days later, each absorbed in their own thoughts; then Abigail spoke. "When Kat left this morning, she said that Josie will be able to do a little walking around today. It was all I could do to stop her from running out of bed and downstairs." She chuckled.

"I bet she is relieved to be out of that room."

"Yes, she is happy with that, but she knows that she will have to go easy on her leg and not do too much until her it's a little stronger."

"That's good. Will she be coming to school soon then?"

"Not yet, I think. She is still a little weak and she still is a bit cautious about being around people, due to her shyness. I will do lessons at home with her though, so that she can get caught up with others her own age."

"Good idea, and I can help her with it when I get home." Elizabeth said as she was taking a dress to the line. As she was pegging it to the line, she dropped it into the mud. "Ugh, yuck!" she said as she picked it up. "Oh, there are times when I miss home and doing laundry is definitely one of them." She groaned as she walked back to Abigail, and the washboard; then she handed the muddy dress back to her.

"Let me guess," Abigail joked as she washed the dress for a second time. "Fresh, clean wardrobe in your closet every day of the week. Cleaned, starched and pressed with a big steam iron."

"Yes!"

"Well, wait until it's a hard winter, when you have to sit in their when the mercury is below zero." Abigail nodded her head in the direction of the privy. "Then you're really going to miss home."

Elizabeth gave her a teasing frown, and Abigail chuckled. "Don't stay like that for too long, or your face will freeze with that frown on it! " Elizabeth laughed and smiled back at her. She was about to reply to Abigail when they both heard the sound of nailing.

Abigail stood up and motioned Elizabeth to follow her. They both walked around to the front of the house and saw Mr. Spurlock nailing a notice to the wall. "Can I help you, Mr Spurlock?" Abigail asked.

"Everything you need to know is on the notice, mam." He replied, walking to the next house.

Abigail quickly ran up the stairs and tore the notice off the wall. She read it and sighed.

"What is it, Abigail?" Elizbeth asked concerned.

Abigail didn't reply. She handed the paper to Elizabeth and slumped against the porch post.

"By order of Henry Gowan, executive director of the Pacific North-West Mining Company, you are here-by given fourteen days' notice to vacate your company owned house." Elizabeth read aloud. She looked up at Abigail.

"It's just the widows who are getting these." Kat said as she walked down the road to them.

"There making room for the new miners." Abigail said, staring straight ahead at the two Pinkertons who were walking away down the road to the rest of the houses.

"How can they do that? It's immoral!" Elizabeth spat the words out.

"And one hundred percent legal. Oh, I didn't see this coming, but I should have." Abigail sighed again heavily.

"What are we going to do?" Kat asked, looking at Abigail for guidance.

"Call a meeting. Tell all the ladies who are affected by this to be in the saloon tonight at eight o'clock. Tell them we will discuss this problem and try to find a solution." Abigail said as she turned to go in the house.

Kat nodded. "Right." She walked away to start her task.

* * *

Josie looked up from the book she was reading as Abigail came back inside the house. Something was wrong. "Abigail, what is it?" She asked in a worried voice.

"The mining company has given me and the rest of the widow's eviction notices to leave our houses within fourteen days." Abigail said as she sat down in the couch next to Josie.

"What will you do?"

"I told Kat, Mrs. Montgomery to gather the widows at the saloon at eight tonight. We will discuss what we are going to do and try to find a solution."

"May I come with you?"

"Are you sure? Your still quite nervous of other people."

"I know, but how am I ever going to get over being shy if I don't ever get out in society? I've realised that I have let my shyness get the better of me and now I aim to change that. Also, I want to help you in any way I can. If you didn't come to help me, I wouldn't be here now."

The front door opened again and Elizabeth walked in, Constable Thornton just behind her. "Hi Josie." He said as he walked over to her.

Josie slunk back against her chair, but she smiled and shook his hand. "Hello, Mountie Jack."

"How did you know that is what all the children call me?"

"Oh, I have my ways." Josie chuckled. "No, I was listening into a conversation that Elizabeth and Abigail were having. Elizabeth mentioned that Emily called you that in school yesterday and she thought it was cute."

Elizabeth blushed as Jack looked up at her. "Did she now?" he chuckled. "Well, I think it is quite cute how they call her Miss Thaty sometimes."

Elizabeth went even brighter red at that comment.

"How have you been going?" Jack asked Josie and Elizabeth went to make some tea.

"Okay, I guess. Mrs. Montgomery told Abigail that I could walk around a bit now. FINALLY!" Josie giggled. "So, the first thing I did was come downstairs and eat a big breakfast. Abigail will have to put all the food under lock and key, or I'll eat it all."

Jack looked at Abigail and she smiled a tiny smile, the first that Jack had seen. "Well, Abigail only wants the best for you." He said to Josie.

"I know, Elizabeth and Mrs. Montgomery said the same thing! But it is so annoying! I have things to do and Abigail won't let me!" Josie looked at Abigail and stuck her bottom lip out in a fake pout.

"Oh, you." This time Abigail smiled and laughed. Jack could see happiness and pride in her eyes as she looked at Josie.

A loud scratching at the door interrupted what Abigail was going to say. Elizabeth stood up and opened the door. "Oh my." She exclaimed.

"What is…?" Abigail asked as she turned around to face the door, but she didn't get to finish the sentence for in walked a huge female mountain lion.

"Cougar!" Josie squealed as the lion leapt into her arms and began to lick Josie's face. Cougar made something like a soft meow and began to purr loudly as she snuggled closer to Josie.

Elizabeth, eyes wide open with fear, slowly crept towards the stairs, then when she was close enough, she made a run for it and ran upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door.

Jack and Abigail stared at Josie and Cougar, who was happily rubbing her head all over Josie and purring softly, deep in her throat. "You never told me that your pet might come for a visit!" Abigail exclaimed.

"You never asked!" Josie replied cheekily. "It's okay, Miss Thatcher you can come out of hiding, she won't eat you. She doesn't like that taste of perfume and she knows that you wouldn't be much nourishment because you're so small."

"Josie!"

"Yes?"

"Never mind." Abigail scolded.

Elizabeth un-locked her door and came slowly back down the stairs with Lassie following behind her. By now Abigail had gathered up enough courage to go near the puma and was gently stroking Cougar on her back. Cougar turned and batted Abigail's book of the table with her paw and began to sniff it. "What's she doing?" Abigail asked.

Josie laughed, then explained Cougar's behaviour. "When she was a kitten, I taught her a little trick on how to open a book to get a carrot piece, she still must remember it."

Jack had relaxed considerably when he saw how gentle Cougar was with Josie and Abigail. He stood up. "I have paper work that I need to get done, so I will leave you ladies with your surprise guest. Have fun." He giggled.

Elizabeth spoke. "May I accompany you? I have a few things that need to be done in town."

"Sure. After you." Jack said as let Elizabeth go in front of him.

"I won't be long Abigail." She said as she put on her coat.

"Take all the time you need." Abigail had a little smirk on her face when she said it.

Jack opened the door and the two of them left. After they were gone, Josie started to laugh. "Oh man, the look on Jack and Elizabeth's faces. You scared the wits out of them without even doing anything!" She crooned to Cougar. She looked up. "Abigail, do you have a carrot?"

"Sure. Why?"

"The way Cougar eats carrots is really cute and I think she would like one. Wouldn't you girl?" Cougar looked at Josie and wiggled her whiskers. "I think that is a yes."

"Let me go get you one, Cougar." Abigail said as she got up from off the rug she had been sitting on. She went to the cupboard and got two, nice long carrots out.

"Look at her, Abigail."

Abigail turned around and saw Cougar watching the carrots in her hand very intently, and slowly flicking the tip of her tail.

"Here you go." She replied as she handed the carrots to Josie.

Cougar bounded over to Abigail and tried to take the carrots, but Josie got them before she could.

"Cougar, Sit!" Josie commanded. Cougar stopped and sat. "Good Girl." She said, handing Cougar the carrots. The lion took them gently and went and laid down in front of the fire, put the carrots between her paws and began to eat them.

Abigail shook her head in dis-belief. "I would never have believed that a mountain lion would eat carrots if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

When Cougar had finished her snack, she went back over to Josie, jumped up on the couch with her and went to sleep…..

* * *

"My children were born in this town, it's the only home they know. Now I don't want to break their hearts, but the company is leaving me no choice. I wrote a letter to my Mama in Lethbridge, asking if we could move in with her." Florence said sadly.

"You did the right thing, no one can blame you." Molly encouraged.

Elizabeth spoke up. "May I make a suggestion?" The women looked at each other. She continued. "I've been thinking this over, perhaps you could hire a lawyer to fight this one for you.."

Florence butted in. "Little Miss Princess, you can think about it until the cows come home. If I gave up what's left of my husband's measly death pension, I'd have nothing left to start over with. I've got no money." A chorus of agreement arose from the gathered women.

"I don't know about the rest of you," Cat started to speak. "But I'm not ready to give up."

Abigail stood up. "Mr. Gowan is right." Everyone looked at her in amazement. It wasn't like Abigail to back down from a challenge, but Josie was already guessing what she was up too. "If the company if recruiting new miners then I think it is time for us widows to fade into the background and the new miners to show up. How do you women feel about being miners?" Abigail didn't wait for an answer and continued. "If we make an agreement with the company to clear and timber any shaft they would like and we do it, then we are allowed to stay in our homes."

Josie was quite chuffed with guessing correctly. She had been quiet up until now, but she decided to speak up. "I think it is possible if we all stand together and help each other." She said timidly.

"Quite right, Josie." Abigail complemented.

After only a few more minutes of discussion, the women agreed to Abigail's plan…


	17. Chapter 16 (Wavers and Essays)

**Chapter 16**

 **Here is chapter 16. Enjoy! A little more dialogue from season 1..**

* * *

As Abigail tucked Josie into bed that night, Josie asked if she could go and help her and the women in the mine. "I'm not scared of doing hard work, or getting hurt. I'll do anything in my power to help you, Abigail. Please, will you let me?"

Abigail was silent for a few moments. When she spoke, it was with caution. "Alright, as long as you stay beside me and don't go off where I can't see you. But promise me you will be careful."

"Yes, Abigail, I promise."

"Have a good sleep, now." She said as she gave Josie a kiss on her forehead.

Josie nodded and closed her eyes. "You to, Abigail."

* * *

"The boys got the last of the inner shafts cleared of roof fall yesterday." Mr. Ansvil, said in a declarative voice as he looked over the mines' maps.

"Are they timbered too?" Mr. Gowan asked.

"Almost. Some of the deeper sections are still blocked." He paused and thought. "Ah, shafts fourteen and sixteen are still closed. We also need to order in more timber to finish off shaft twenty-one."

"I'm counting on you, Mr. Ansvil. That's why I named you my new Super Intendent."

"I know sir, and I'm doing the best I can. I just don't have the manpower to clear those shafts any faster."

"Well, it shouldn't be a worry too much longer. I have been doing some recruiting and help should be on its way soon." Gowen peered out the dirty window, which obviously hadn't been cleaned since Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt. "Who in God's name are those men?" He asked as he walked to the door, opened it and went out. Herbert followed him like an obedient child.

"Your recruiting more miners." Abigail said as a way of explaining it. "You got 'em."

"Respectfully ladies, is this some kind of joke?" Gowen asked, looking at the crowd of women dressed in their husband's mining clothes.

"No joke, Mr. Gowen. You need workers, we need roofs over our children's heads." She said, speaking for all the women.

"You lost your husbands in there. What will happen to your children if they lose you?"

Kat spoke up at the question. "Mr. Gowen, we're offering to do this with our eyes open and we're counting the cost, but we have to try. Coal Valley is our home."

Abigail to the plea back over after Kat had finished. "All we are asking for is a chance. Everybody knows that you still have shafts blocked. You tell us which one you want open and we have it cleared and timbered before the evictions..."

Gowen butted in, knowing what she was getting at. "You get to stay in your homes. What happens if you don't?"

"We leave quietly. We will even give the houses a proper spring clean before we vacate."

"You have two weeks, as well as none of the men that work for me may help you. I will not compromise their safety."

Warning bells rang in Abigail's head, but she quickly dismissed them. "Fair enough." She agreed.

Gowan saw Josie standing just behind Abigail. "What is she doing here?"

"She decided after talking with me, to come and help us. She will not be a problem and she is stronger than what she looks like."

"How old is she?" He said, ignoring Josie completely.

Josie didn't like that. "I'm fourteen, sir." She said, out-right lying. ' _Well, it's not really lying."_ She thought. _"Pa always said that I looked older than I really am."_

Gowan didn't know that it she was lying. "Mr. Ansvil." He nodded, letting him know that he could take over. He tipped his hat to the ladies and left.

"Ladies, line up and sign your waver."

"I'm flabbergasted that you would do this" Mr Spurlock growled as Gowan and he got into the car.

Gowan leaned back in his chair. "We both know that they won't last a week before they quit, Mr. Spurlock. But in the meantime, perhaps I'll get some of that shaft cleared."

* * *

Elizabeth was walking over to the door of the saloon when Mr. Trevoy stopped her. "I hope you have a plan for moving these boxes from the front of my building, Miss Thatcher."

"I'm sorry, are they for me?" She said in dis-belief.

"Well unless they have changed the way whiskey is spelled." He pointed to the words on the side of the boxes. It said **_Heavy Books_**. "I doubt their mine." He went inside the saloon.

Elizabeth went around the pile of crates, hardly believing what she was seeing. She tried to pick one of the boxes up, but it was heavier than she had expected.

Jack walked out of the saloon, saw Elizabeth and chuckled quietly to himself. He waited for a minute or so then went over to her. "Need some help?" Elizabeth looked at him. "May I?"

Elizabeth moved aside so Jack could get to the crate. "If you wish." She said in an annoyed manner.

Jack easily lifted the box. "After you." He waited as she opened the door, then followed her in.

Jack was opening the boxes ten minutes later when Elizabeth started to eagerly go through them. "I can't tell you how glad I am to have my collection replaced. It will be an absolute treasure for my students."

Jack pulled out a pink, fancy dress. "This for your students too?" he asked.

Elizabeth turned around "Huh?"

Jack placed it back into the box and Elizabeth turned back to the crate of books she was going through. "Oh, a journal." She pulled it out. "I already have so much to write about." She opened it up and saw a stack of $5 bills were inside, she quickly shut it again as Jack interrupted.

"Be sure to mention how your father got me posted here babysitting his daughter instead of chasing pirates and whiskey runners in Cape Fullerton."

The sound of the children coming in distracted Elizabeth for a few seconds. "Good morning, children." A chorus of "Good Morning, Miss Thatcher." rang out. "So, we're back to Cape Fullerton, are we? I thought we made our peace with that." She said addressing Jack.

"We did, I just don't want you to forget that as long as your tied to your father's apron strings, I will be too. Good day, Miss Thatcher." He said, going to the door.

"Good day, Constable." She replied, with a hint of annoyance, but then her tone changed. "Children, I have a surprise for you this morning. Everyone, go and drop off your lunch pails and gather around these crates."

"What's in them?" Gabe asked excited.

"Well, come and see for yourselves."

"I've never seen so many fancy dresses." Cassandra declared. "Are they all yours, Miss Thatcher?"

Rachel slipped away un-noticed to the table.

"Ah, that's not the crate I wanted to show you."

"Look at these shoes!" Another girl exclaimed.

"Okay, let's go find another crate, shall we?" Elizbeth said guiding them away from the crate.

"Wow. Look at all these books!" Miles said with surpise.

"That ain't no surprise!"James said disappointed.

"Sure, it is James. Thanks to a generous gift we have books on just about any subject. From now on we will be able to explore the entire world through reading. Isn't that exciting?"

"Nope." James said walking away.

Then Elizabeth noticed Rachel crying. She went over to her. "Rachel, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to leave Coal Valley!" She sobbed.

"Neither do I." Agreed Gabe.

Elizabeth looked at the children. "Everyone, go grab a work book and a pencil and take your seats. In your best words, I want you to write a short essay in this topic." She began to write on the blackboard. "Coal Valley is my home because…."

* * *

Back in the mine office, Florence was just finishing signing her waver. Mr. Ansvile approved it, the after he had filed it away, he let Florence walk out in front of him and followed her out. The women gathered there grew silent and Mr. Ansvile gave his orders. "You all have you pit-checks now. Make sure they go back on the board so we know who is in and out of the mine. Any questions?"

The women looked at each other, most where shaking their heads, in an answer to his question.

He looked around. "Alright, if there are no questions, follow me to shaft number fourteen." He grabbed the canary that was quietly sitting in its cage as he spoke. He walked the mine, the ladies following him. Josie stayed next to Abigail, drawing strength from her courage. Abigail looked down at her, smiled and took Josie's hand in hers'. "We'll be fine." Josie nodded.

When they got the entrance, the women stopped, looking for guidance from Abigail. "Ladies, this is to keep our homes!" They started again and followed Mr. Ansvil and Abigail into the mine.

As they got to the entrance of the shaft they were to work in, Mr. Ansvil hung up the little cage. "Alright, canary stops singing for fifteen minutes, I want you hightailing it out of here. Too much methane, boom. Too much seeled tube, boom. With those open lamps, too much coal dust."

"Florence butted in. "We get it, we're burnt."

"Get to work." He commanded, nodding in the direction of the blocked shaft, then leaving the women to it, he left to go and check on another shaft.

Cat took charge now. "Let's put our lunch boxes over there." She said as she put hers' down near the wall. The other women followed her example and after Molly and Gwen had put theirs down, they hung up the lamps they were carrying on the hooks near the canary.

Abigail looked at the wall of rocks and sighed heavily, the realization of what she had gotten the ladies into suddenly hit. She sighed again, "Right, lets line up, between here and the cart over there." She nodded in its direction. "That way we can hand the rocks between us and get it done a little bit quicker."

The women nodded, followed her lead and set to work.

* * *

"Coal Valley in my home because I can't remember living anywhere else" Cassandra started her essay. She paused and continued. "My first memory of being here is my daddy jumping off the wagon and falling to the ground, just on that street out there." She pointed out the window. "Then, he kissed the dirt and thanked the good Lord for giving us a second chance."

Elizabeth started to clap, then the rest of the class joined in. "That was wonderful, Cassandra. Thank you for sharing." Cassandra went and took her place. "Gabe, you're next."

Gabe grabbed his book and stood up. "Mine's kind of short." He said, walking to the front of the class. "Coal Valley is my home because it's where I got my first kiss." The rest of the students began to giggle and James called out "Probably from your ma!" That made the kids laugh loudly. "No, it's not from my ma." He paused, waiting for the right words to come. "Fact is, it's from a girl in this here class, But I'm too much of a gent to kiss and tell." He saw Cassandra begin to squirm, but he continued on. "And the reason I don't want to leave Coal Valley is 'cause someday I'm going to marry her."

The kids laughed again. "The end." Gabe went back to his seat. Then the kids began to clap.

"Settle down." Elizabeth asked. "Thank you, Gabe. Rachel, are you ready?"

Rachel nodded, stood up and went to the front, grabbing something out of her pocket as she walked.

"Don't you need your workbook?"

"No, ma'am. My story's in my heart. "One day, before my daddy went to heaven, he gave me this little piece of coal." She held it up so everyone could see, then began to play with it in her hands as she spoke. "He told me to think of it as a diamond. He called it his _"Pearl of Great Price"_ I didn't know what that meant. I said, _"It's just a dumb old piece of coal._ " He said it was a treasure, just like out town's a treasure for all who live here. And all treasure worth digging for, always comes at a price. We all know that's true now, don't we? Now that some of our mamas are down in that mine, it makes me worried. What if something happened to them that happened to our fathers?"

Elizabeth got up off her chair and went over to Cassandra. "You have every right to be afraid. You all do." She turned to the rest of the children as she placed her hand on Cassandra's shoulder. "But we mustn't lose hope. I believe there's a reason for every fear we face, and every hardship we suffer. That's to make us all stronger people."

* * *

 **If your enjoying my story, please review! I really like getting your thoughts on my story.**

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	18. Chapter 17 (Being Busy)

**Chapter 17**

 **More dialogue…**

 **Yes, there is one word that is a swear word in the chapter, but in the context, I am using it in, it's fine. Just wanted to clear that up….**

* * *

"Mr. Gowen, how can you justify allowing those women to walk into that mine?" Jack asked while he was seated in the chair on Gowen's office.

"Believe me, it wasn't my idea." He replied as he placed his record disc into its pouch. "Those women go into that mine with their eyes wide open."

"But you've prohibited your men from lending hand."

"Of course, I did." He walked over to his shelf and grabbed a glass of whiskey. "My men are the only thing standing between me and a complete shuttering of that mine. Would you like a drink?"

"No."

"I'm not going to allow my men's lives to be put in danger for a bunch of stubborn women."

Warning bells rung in Jack's head, but he didn't let that show to Gowen. "Who are trying to save their homes."

Gowen didn't like where this conversation was going. "Constable, you do realize that as an officer of the law that you cannot take a position on a property dispute one way or the other."

"I am aware of the laws. Sir"

"And should the evictions become necessary, that it will fall on you to enforce them?" Jack nodded his head slightly. "Now I've been more than generous with these widows. I've allowed them to stay in company housing rent-free since the mine disaster, when, clearly, according to the contract," He opened a folder and handed placed it open on the table in front of Jack. "I could've evicted them much sooner."

"I'm sure you've done everything you can to take care of them."

"I have."

"Just like you took every precaution to protect their husbands." Jack stood up. "I'm sure you spared no expense when it came to the safety of the men who work for you." Gowen looked at Jack and he looked at Gowen in a stale-mate. Then Jack put the folder back onto the table. "Mr. Gowen." He said leaving.

Gowen watched Jack as he went out the door, then slowly had a drink. _"Why did he have to come here? Ever since he's been here, all he has been doing is getting his nose in company business. He's getting to close to the truth."_ He thought. _"I need to divert him away from our business."_ "Mr. Spurlock, get in here!" He bellowed.

Mr. Spurlock came through the door. "Yes, Sir."

"We've got trouble." Mr. Gowen motioned to the chair and Mr. Spurlock sat down. "Now, I need you to…"

* * *

Ned was shining his silver-wear when Jack opened the door and walked in. "Good day, Ned."

"Good day."

"Just wondering if there are any wires for me yet?"

"Oh, sorry. No Constable. I'll let you know if anything from your command post comes in. Oh, but you did get another package in the mail." He walked over to the post cupboard, opened it and pulled out his package. "Pretty heavy." He said as he shook it. "is it a book maybe?"

"Maybe." Jack replied, not giving him any info on what it was.

Ned kept on prodding. "A little light reading?"

"Something like that." He nodded at Ned as he left. "Thank-you."

* * *

When their shift was ended, the ladies came out of the mine and lined up to put their pit-checks onto the board. Josie was standing next to Abigail, looking sober and tired.

"I know you're between a rock and a hard place, ladies, but you've got to give it up. It just ain't worth it…" Max said as he waited to put his tag up.

"Shut up, Max. There only doing what we would do in their shoes." The miner behind him scolded.

The women finished hanging their tags and together, left for home there homes.

* * *

As Kat was outside washing her hands, Emily saw her and ran over to her. "Let me help you with your hands, mama."

Kat flinched as Emily touched her hands. "Sorry, baby. Mama's hands are just a little banged up."

"Oh, mama."

"Some Unker's salve and they'll be just fine, baby."

Gabe and James came around the corner, then Kat saw Miriam and Cynthia coming up with a wheelbarrow full of pots and baskets. "Miriam? Cynthia?"

Cynthia picked up a pot and motioned towards them.

"Uh, take the pot inside." Gabe went and took the pot and James was handed the basket. Kat turned to Emily. "Okay, I'll be there in a minute." Emily trotted over to the two ladies. "Anything for me to take?"

"Here you go, Emily." Miriam said as she handed her a pot, then the two ladies walked over to Kat.

"Thank you so much for thinking of us.

"I asked my Timothy what he would think about me going into the mine to help," Miriam explained. "But her forbade it. He said it's too dangerous."

"The other wives are getting the same from their husbands." Cynthia agreed. "Bringing you something from out kitchens feels so piddling, but we don't know what more we can do."

"No, you're doing the right thing. Not risking your safety for your own kids' sake. But we will take all of the potluck and prayer we can get."

They nodded, then left to deliver the remainder of the food to the other widows.

* * *

Elizabeth was stirring something on the stove when Abigail and Josie walked in. She ran over to them. "Oh, I made dinner. I found a recipe for stew and biscuits."

Abigail and Josie handed her their head lamps, she placed them down on the floor beside the wall.

"Oh, well, that's very kind of you, Elizabeth, but I think I would fall asleep in my plate." Abigail pulled off her coat, helped Josie get hers' off and hung them up on the coat rack.

"I wish there was something I could do to help. Do my part."

Abigail looked at her while she sat down on the chair. 'You are doing your part by tending to the children."

"I suppose so." She said, heaving a sigh.

"Besides, the children of this town need their teacher more than ever right now." She said as she pulled off her boots. "So, let's not hear any more about this, okay." She got up. "Come on, honey." She said as she placed her arm around Josie's shoulder and they walked up the stairs to their room.

Elizabeth started to close the door when she looked out the window and saw Jack sitting on his horse, watching. She shook her head and huffed, walking out the door and closing it behind her.

"You're just everywhere, aren't you?" She said as she walked up to Jack.

"It's my job to keep an eye on things." He replied.

"Isn't there anything else more you could be doing rather than just sitting around looking all smug?"

"Actually, there is. Abigail just asked me to go out to Josie's ranch, check things over and bring back the tack for Josie's stallion. Also, my rules and regulations require that I can't take sides in this issue."

"At least not until you have to enforce Mr. Gowen's evections, right?"

"If they become necessary. Not because I take any joy in it, but because the law requires me to."

"Well, they won't be necessary."

"How can you be so sure? These ladies they've taken on an impossible challenge."

"Just because they're women?"

"Says the women who needed a man's help lifting her crates into the saloon." Jack smirked as he said it. He really liked it when Elizabeth looked mad at him, and it made him like her even more.

"You think I'm weak." She said through gritted teeth.

"What I'm saying is, if there was ever a time for you to put those big-city brains to look for another way out of this mess, it's now. By the way, how's Josie?"

"Well, for a girl, she is doing quite well. By the way, from you saying that women are weak, how would you like to do what she did?"

"I don't get at what you're saying?"

"So, you have a bad memory as well as no decorum. Josie harvested nearly two hundred acers of grains, by herself. A grown man would have a hard time even doing that."

"Well, I don't think I'll be seeing you behind a harvester or plow anytime soon. Good day, ma'am. H'yah." Jack said as he wheeled Sarge around and cantered off.

Elizabeth watched him as he rode down the track to Josie's ranch. He made her so mad! She kicked at a rock as she walked back to the house…

* * *

Abigail and Josie walked into their shared room. As Josie was changing her dirty clothes for clean ones, she yelped.

Abigail looked up at her. "What's wrong?"

Josie sighed as she stood up. "My leg; it's really starting to hurt. I think I did to much walking today." She hastily put her nightgown on.

Abigail went over to her. "Let me have a look, Josie."

Josie nodded and sat down on the bed, pulled her nightgown up just a little so Abigail could see her wound. She began to un-bandage the bloody cloth.

"Ouch!" Josie squeaked as Abigail removed the dressing.

"Oh, Josie." Abigail sighed as she looked at the wound. "You must have opened the scab by walking around, that's why it's been bleeding. I'll go and get the stuff to clean it with." She said as she went back out of the room and downstairs.

Josie decided to lie down, and by the time Abigail had gotten back, she was fast asleep. Abigail quietly moved into the room and began to clean the wound. "Poor darling." She whispered as she saw Josie sleeping out of total exhaustion. She carefully cleaned and dresses the wound, then bandaged it. When she was finished with Josie, she completed her interrupted changing, went to bed and off to sleep.

* * *

When Jack finally got to his room that night, he decided that now was as good a time as any to start his research on the mine. He had ordered the book two weeks ago and was glad that it had finally arrived. It was called _The Science and Dangers of Coal Extraction_ and was written by a man well known for his mining experience. He looked at the table of contents and flipped ahead to the chapter entitled _Safety and Company Liability._ He then began to read….

* * *

When morning came, Abigail got up, dressed and ready for the shift in the mine. She let Josie sleep and went downstairs. Elizabeth was still in her room, so Abigail tried not to disturb her as she got things ready for breakfast. She went over to the icebox, got the milk and the oats out from the cupboard above it and made up some porridge. As she stirred the oats in the pot, she looked at the old grand-father clock in the corner. It started to chime out six times.

As she was gathering some more items required for breakfast, Elizabeth came in. "Would you please serve this up for me? I need to go and get Josie up."

"Sure." Elizabeth replied as she exchanged places with Abigail.

Abigail walked softly into the room and went over to Josie. She sat down on the bed and stroked Josie's hair. "Josie, sweetie, wake up."

Josie opened her eyes. "What time is it?" She asked groggily.

"Just after six." Abigail replied.

That made Josie sit up quickly. "Why didn't you get me up? Now I'll make you late." She leapt out of bed and started to dress.

"No, we won't be late. I thought yesterday that the walk is too much for you to be doing, so I got Jack to bring by Thowra's tack when he went out yesterday. I saw Thowra out the window this morning. He's just a little way out in the meadow."

"How did Thowra know to come?" Josie asked as she put her shirt on.

"Jack said that when Thowra saw him grab the tack, he followed him here. Thowra's a smart horse." Abigail said as she led Josie down the stairs. They ate a hurried breakfast and grabbed their coats and lunches.

Josie went out onto the porch and whistled for Thowra. He stopped grazing and quickly galloped over to her. "Hi, Thowra. You been good?" She asked as she put his bridle on him. Thowra started to prance around. "Sorry, mate, none of that today." She said as she stroked his neck, then she grabbed his saddle blanket and saddled him up.

She had just finished tacking him up when Abigail came out of the house. "We've got to hurry, it's a quarter to seven."

Josie led Thowra to the porch and used it to mount Thowra, then she gave Abigail her hand and she jumped up on behind her. "Ready?" Josie asked Abigail.

"Yes." She agreed.

Thowra felt his two riders and Josie let him have a moment, then she gave him a nudge with her heels and he jumped into a canter. Thowra could sense the urgency in his rider's hands and so he stretched out and cantered faster. They covered the two miles to the mine in good time and got there just as the others were about to start their shift….

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it. I know it has been a long time since I have updated. Sorry for that...**


	19. Chapter 18 (Trapped)

**Chapter 18**

* * *

Josie reined Thowra in to a stop in front of the office and Abigail hopped off. She walked over to where the other ladies were gathering and was soon involved in conversation.

Josie gave Thowra a pat on his neck and slid off. Thowra nosed Josie as she un-did the girth and pulled the saddle off. She put the saddle and its blanket on the porch of the office, then took off his bridle and placed it with the rest of the tack. Thowra watched Josie, waiting for instruction. Josie gave him the cue with her hand that he was free to go and he gave a little rear, a whinny and cantered off to near the edge of the forest.

As the ladies and Josie lined up to get their tags off the board, Mr. Ansvil came out of the office. "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. The mule that you guys were using yesterday to bring up the full carts died last night. I went out to feed the mules and he was gone. The other two the company own cannot be used by you. The men are already using one of them and the other is lame."

"Oh, dear." Abigail sighed. "How are we going to clear away the debris without a mule to pull the carts?"

"I'm sorry, I have no idea." The Superintendent replied.

"May I make a suggestion?" Josie asked timidly. He nodded at her. "With your permission, I could use Thowra to pull the carts. He might be highly spirited, but he has good sense. The only thing though, if I were to use him, is that only I am the one who is to control him. He won't listen to anyone else, and don't crowd him, he doesn't like it too much."

"Well, Josie, I'm sure that you could use Thowra, it won't hurt to give him a try and if it doesn't work, you might be able to find another horse to use. I'll get one of the men to leave some empty carts where you ladies are working."

"Thank you, sir. I'll just go out to the ranch and get his harness." Josie put her fingers in her mouth and gave one long whistle. The stallion threw his head up and cantered over to Josie. She put the bridle on him and grabbing a handful of his long mane, swung up over his broad back. "Gee up, Thowra."

Thowra arched his neck and snorted, pivoting on his hind quarters and stretching out into a moderately fast canter, continued on to the ranch. When they got to the ranch, Josie took the short cut over the fence and through the horse paddock. As she rode through the pasture, she was glad to see that they were all still in good condition, even though there had been already several snowfalls. She directed Thowra towards the wooden gate and jumped him over it, sliding Thowra to a stop in-front of the stable doors.

She dropped the reins on the ground and walked inside the stable and the tack room where Thowra's quick-release harness collar was kept. She grabbed the collar and a leather halter with its lead. She went back outside and put the heavy collar around his neck, inspecting it to make sure it was still safe. She was pleased to find that the collar was still in good condition and Josie felt proud of the good job she had done making it.

She made sure that the rope to release the collar in an emergence was able to be used, then jumped up on Thowra, picked the reins up in her left hand and began to ride back to the mine.

As she rode around the side of the barn back to the trail, when something caught her eye. She reined Thowra in to have a closer look at it. A piece of paper had blown out of the barn door.

Josie dis-mounted and picked it up. She thought it looked important and so she put in her pocket for later, mounted her horse and once again rode off to the mine.

When she got back to the mine, Mr. Gowan was there talking to the Superintendent. Josie slowed Thowra to a walk, keeping a firm hand on the reins to stop him from doing something silly. Thowra tucked his head into his chest and began to dance around on his feet. "You won't feel so frisky this afternoon." Josie told him as she dis-mounted. As she exchanged his bridle for the halter and lead, she heard her name called. She turned towards the voice.

"Josie, Mr. Ansvil was just telling me that you are going to use that useless stallion to pull the carts out of the mine. Is this true?" Mr. Gowan demanded.

Thowra snorted and began to pull away at the sound of Gowan's voice. "Yes, Sir. Easy boy." She patted him again on the neck. "The mule died and we have no way of emptying the full carts so now we are going to use the horse instead." Josie said, remounting the horse.

"Well, you just make darn certain that he doesn't do anything stupid. We don't need to repair more of the mine than we already do." Gowan replied.

"Sure, Mr. Gowan." Josie said. "Git, up, Thorwa." Thowra trotted over to the mouth of the mine and Josie got off, leading him in to the darkness of the tunnel.

* * *

Everything had been going great until after lunch on the fifth day. Josie and Thowra were waiting for another full load of rubble to remove from the shaft when the timbers began to creak and groan. Thowra began to move in place, looking worried.

The women stopped work and looked at the roof of the tunnel. "What was that?" Florence asked.

"My Noah used to call that the ghost in the attic. It's okay." Abigail replied from the very end of the tunnel, just past the air shaft.

Josie went over to her horse. "What's wrong, Thowra?" She asked as she tried to sooth the excited horse. Thowra was snorting like crazy and looking at the roof suspiciously. He neighed and reared when a rock fell from the roof and hit him on the rump.

The ladies all began to back out of the shaft, all except Abigail, who was still filling up a bucket. The women went out to where Thowra and Josie were waiting.

Then there was a crash and a rumble and the tunnel began to shake. "Cave in!" Florence screamed.

"Everyone, into the carts!" Josie yelled above the noise. The ladies lost no time at all in getting in. "Thowra, get out of here. Go!"

"Josie, hop in." Kat called as Thowra began to canter out as fast as he could with the fully loaded carts.

"No! I need to get Abigail!" She replied as she ran back into the rapidly collapsing tunnel, grabbing a lantern off the wall as she went past. A roof beam nearly fell on her and a rock landed on her foot, but she ran on. As she came around the corner, she could see that Abigail was pinned down by a roof timber.

Josie ran over to her and tried to pull the timber off. She was glad that the rest of the roof hadn't fell, yet.

Abigail groaned. "Josie, save yourself, don't worry about me. Go."

"No, Abigail, I'm not leaving without you." She replied as she gave a huge heave and lifted the beam off Abigail's leg. Abigail pulled out from under it just in time, but then the roof started to rain down dirt and small rocks.

"I can't walk." Abigail yelped as she tried to stand, but couldn't. Then the rest of the tunnel began to collapse. Josie saw the air shaft with the door open, and half carried, half dragged Abigail to it, holding a lantern as well. Abigail quickly scrambled into it and Josie jumped in and closed the door, just as the roof really let go with a rumble and a crash.

Josie and Abigail were panting with exhaustion and fear, but finally the noise and the rumbling died down. Josie sat long enough to catch her breath, then tried to open the door, but she couldn't. "Rats!" She said under her breath. "We're trapped."

"Well, think on the bright side Josie, we're in here, not out there. Oh, my leg is killing me." She exclaimed, her eyes widening after seeing the blood seeping onto the ground from her leg.

Josie walked over to Abigail. "Well, at least down here the shaft is big. They must have found a deposit of coal here to make it this wide." She said, looking around the shaft with her lantern. Then she knelt down beside Abigail. "May I?" She asked, nodding towards her leg.

Abigail nodded and Josie tried to roll up her pants. "Josie, please stop. Just cut it with your pocket knife."

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, go ahead."

Josie pulled out her pocket knife and began to cut the material above where the blood was coming from. As she pulled the cloth from of her leg, she saw why Abigail couldn't walk. The tibia and fibula were broken and part of the bone was sticking up through the skin and muscle. "Abigail, it looks bad. I'm going to put a tourniquet on it and then I'm going to need to fix the break and splint your leg before the lamps go out."

"Have you ever done anything like that before?"

"No, but I helped my dad set my brother's leg when he broke it while we were out riding, we were quite a fair way away from town so dad had to set it so we could get him back. And since we're stuck in here, I don't think you have much of a choice." Josie said, grimly.

"Oh, great." Abigail moaned, looking very worried. "You best hop to it then; my lamp is getting low."

* * *

The black horse burst out of the darkness of the tunnel and into the light of the sunshine, pulling three heavy carts filled with the women. Then Thowra slowed to a halt and stood trembling with fear and surprise.

The other miners saw them and ran over to help them get out. Mr. Ansvil ran over. "What happened?" He asked Kat.

"We had just gone back to work after lunch when the horse began to get nervous and look up at the roof. Josie went over to calm him, and we followed. Then the shaft began to move and we got out of there." Kat explained as she got out of the cart.

"Oh, boy." Mr. Ansvil ran his fingers through his hair. "Mr. Gowan isn't going to be happy with that. Did the horse do something silly?"

"No, if it wasn't for Thowra alerting Josie; then us following her, we would still be stuck in there." Molly said. "By the way, did Abigail and Josie get out?"

The women all looked at each other, not saying a word, but getting the un-spoken message. They began to walk back into the mine with Mr. Ansvil up in front. When they got to the beginning of the shaft, it was blocked completely with fallen rubble.

"Mrs. Stanton, Josie?" Herbert yelled. "Josie, Mrs. Stanton?" There was no reply from in the shaft.

"I think they're way too far away to be able to hear us." Kat said. "Abigail was working way inside the shaft and Josie ran back in to get her."

"How far in was she working?" Mr. Ansvil asked, making a mental name of the shaft he had worked in a lot of times.

"About seventy feet on this side. We timbered about sixty feet. The wood mustn't have held. I guess we had better get back to clearing it." Cat sighed.

"No, please, wait until I have spoken with Gowan. We need to get more timbers up here so it won't cave in again. It's best if you ladies leave the mine until we have worked out a plan of action We don't need anyone else getting hurt. Or killed."

"Do you think that is what has happened to them?"

"We need to pray not, but every minute we waste is not going to help. Let's go." Herbert said, leading the women out again.

* * *

"How does that feel now?" Josie asked Abiagil as she finished tying the splint to Abigail's leg.

"What do you think?" Abigail snapped. "Sorry, Josie. Yes, it's a little better."

"It's okay, Abigail. I know how you feel. I broke one of my legs once. Actually, it was the same one that you broke now. I was eight when I came off the pony I was riding. He was feeling quite skittish and I wasn't paying much attention to him and he bolted. I fell off and got my foot caught in the stirrup and that snapped the bones in my leg. After that experience, I was never compliant with my riding again."

"What did you do?"

"Dad got the doc out. That was when he learnt how to set and splint a break. It was good that he leant that to, so he was able to help my brother with what he was taught. Now that it's splinted, we just need to get out of here, and make sure that it doesn't get infected. I don't need you to die on me like my family did." Josie began to sniffle.

"Josie, come cuddle up to me." Abiagil said, holding her arms out. Josie slid over to her and snuggled up next to her. "Is you wound feeling okay?"

"Yeh. Now we just need to get ourselves out of here. Have you got any ideas?"

"No, but I think that it would help if we put the oil from our lamps into the lantern and turn them out."

"Okay." She replied as she grabbed the lantern. When she had finished the change-over, Josie dimmed the light down further. She pulled her watch out of her pocket and looked at it. It read 1:10. "How long do you think we're going to be in here for?"

"I don't know. But let's not think about that now, Josie. How about I tell you a story about when I was a little girl?"

"Great." Josie snuggled up closer to Abigail to get warm, then she started to play with her whistle.

"When I was six years old….." She began.


	20. Chapter 19 (Still Trapped)

**Chapter 19**

* * *

By the time the ladies had gotten back out of the mine, Mr. Gowan was already there with the two Pinkertons and Jack.

"What happened?" Mr. Gowan said, marching up to Mr. Ansvil, demanding to know.

"The shaft collapsed." He replied bluntly, but then his tone changed into one of accusation. "I told you those timbers were too old and needing replacement, but you wouldn't listen."

"There is nothing wrong with those timbers. I can't waste company money on frivolous luxuries like new timber."

Jack listened to their conversation closely, putting it together with what he already knew about the mine, but didn't show that he was paying much attention to them. "Did everyone make it out?"

Kat spoke up. "Yes, except for Abigail Stanton and Josie Blackwell. Abigail was working right up at the end of what we had cleared so far and Josie ran back in to get her."

"So," Jack turned to Gowan. "When will you get the miners to get them out?"

"It's not that easy, Constable. I told the women that my men would not help them and I aim to stick by that decision. It will take about three weeks to get the wood necessary to be able to re-timber the shaft and we have no way of knowing if Josie and Mrs. Stanton are still alive. If the women want to try and rescue them, they can go right ahead, but none of my men are allowed to help them."

Jack was about to reply when he noticed Josie's black stallion. Thowra was looking with his ears pricked up into the mine, then he neighed loudly. He snorted and tried to get at the rope that was holding the collar together, and so arching his neck, he was able to grab it and pull. The collar undid and he snorted again, then galloped off around the side of the cliff face and started to climb up the mountain.

"Excuse me, but this discussion is far from over, Gowan. I will be back." Jack said as he mounted his horse and spurred his horse into a gallop, following the route that Thowra had just taken.

" _I wouldn't expect any less_." Gowan muttered under his breath, knowing that more trouble was going to come.

* * *

Thowra cantered up the steep incline, straining his muscles for every stride. When he got to the top, he stopped and waited, looking at Jack, then trotted off again to the right. He stopped again and stood, listening intently, then cantered off, looking like he was trying to follow a sound. Jack noticed the stallion's actions as he helped Sargent in any way he could to make it up to the top.

Thowra jogged another thirty or so yards and stopped again, but this time putting his head down to the ground. He lifted his head, saw Jack coming just up over the rise and neighed to him.

Jack slowed his horse to a walk so that he wouldn't scare the stallion into running off again, and grabbed a rope off his saddle. He dismounted and began to walk towards the horse. "Easy, boy, easy." He said as the stallion began to snort again, this time at him; then to the ground.

As he came closer, he could see that Thowra was nosing a piece of wire mesh covering a deep hole. "What do we have here?" He whispered to himself, then he saw a little metal tag that was attached to the wire. It said on it, **Shaft NO. 14**. Then it made sense to him. It was the air shaft going into the tunnel the women were working in. With that discovery, he forgot all about the horse standing about ten yards away from him now.

Jack got down on his hands and knees and peered down into the hole, squinting to try and see if there was anything down at the bottom. He saw a light flickering far down, then it went out. "Josie, Abigail?" He yelled. He waited, but didn't hear a reply.

 _Their too far down._ He thought, then he remembered his notebook and got it out of his pocket. He began to write.

 _Josie, Abigail, I'm guessing it's you down here. I'll try and do my best to find some way to get you guys out of here. Constable Thornton_

When he finished, he wrapped the note around a rock and dropped it down between the wire into the hole, counting the seconds until the light again flickered. The count was a little over thirty seconds, so he could guess that the shaft was at least sixty yards deep.

Thowra nudged Jack on his back and Jack grabbed the rope so he could halter him and take him back to Josie's ranch, but Thowra threw his head up and took off at a fast gallop back into the forest.

Jack shook his head and gave a little chuckle. Josie and Thowra were so alike; both were highly spirited, relying on no one but themselves. He picked up Sargent's reins, mounted his horse and took a good look around the area so that he could remember where the air shaft was located, then cantered him back down to the office.

* * *

"Josie," Abigail said a little while after she had finished her story.

"Yes," Josie said as she gave a little yawn. "Why am I so tired? I've done hardly nothing all day."

"Adrenaline, Josie. You used a lot of energy getting us both to safety." Abigail noticed the level of the oil in her head lamp. "You're going to need to put the lamp out. The oil's getting low."

"Yes, I know Abigail, but I'm scared; it's so cold and dark in here even with it on at little. What if they don't get us out in time?"

"You have to have faith, everything will be fine. Have you said a prayer? I find that when I pray, it helps calms me down."

"Yes, that's all I was doing when I came back in here trying to find you. But I'm definitely going to be talking God's ears off until we get out!" Josie decided to change the subject. "I'll just check your pulse and then I'll blow the lamp out." She felt Abigail's wrist and checked her watch, timing the beats per minute. _Mmm, a hundred and ten. That's a little too high..._ She thought as she blew the lamp out.

Then she heard something hit the ground near her. She felt around for it and got a match out of her pocket and struck it on a rock, lighting it. She quickly read the note before it went out. "Abigail, Constable Jack is working to get us out!" She exclaimed with happiness.

The match went out, so Josie lit the lamp and handed it and the note to Abigail. Abigail read it too. "Thank goodness. At least he knows that we're alive. Now they will hopefully try and dig us out." _If_ Gowan lets them _._ She thought as she tried to move into a more comfortable position. "Ouch!" She yelped.

"Abigail, don't try and move. Here, you can have my jacket." Josie placed it onto Abigail. "We need to keep you warm so you don't go into shock. A compound fracture is nothing minor."

"Yes, Dr Blackwell." Abigail chuckled as Josie wrapped her in the coat.

"Well, if I'm a doctor, then you're a very bad patient." Josie played along with Abigail's joke. "My mother's father was a doctor. When he passed on, my mother received all his medical books and everything. I got bored one time, so I started to read one of them and I haven't stopped since. I never knew him, but the notes he made have come in handy from time to time." Josie told Abigail a little about her family to keep her awake...

* * *

Jack pulled his horse to a stop in front of the mine office. "I've found where Josie and Abigail have taken shelter." He said to Herbert as he dismounted. "Mr. Ansvil, do you have a map of the mine with all the air shafts marked on it?"

He nodded. "Let me go get it." He said, going into the office; he returned a short while later with a map and leant against a post of the office porch. Jack went over to him. "There are areas in that shaft here and here." He said pointing. "That have collapsed before. According to what Mrs. Montgomery said, Mrs. Stanton was working here."

Jack studied the map carefully. "That's not far from one of the weak points, but the air shaft there looks like it is the one that they took shelter in. Josie's stallion led me to where the shaft was and I could see a light down in the bottom."

"Pretty smart of them to." Herbert added. He was about to add more when Mr. Gowan came over.

"Constable." He said. "I know you want to get them out, but the only way that will happen is if the women decide to go and get them out. As I have said before the men aren't to help them."

Jack turned to the women who were still gathered in front of the office. "Ladies, who is willing to go and help get Josie and Abigail out?"

Florence shook her head, as well as a few of the other women.

"We can start over, we can do this and still save our homes. Abigail and Josie need our help. Are we going to walkout on them?" Kat asked.

"How? We've lost a whole week. We're right back where we started."

"You just," Kat paused, searching for the right words. "You've got to have faith. And we have to stick together."

"Yes." Mary Dunbar agreed.

"Mr. Gowan was right. This is a joke. There's no such thing as lady miners. Abigail's shouldn't have gotten us into this mess. Look where its gotten her and Josie." Florence turned and left the other widows.

"We should never have tried this. My little Rosaline's suffered enough with the loss of her daddy. I should've just accepted our fate and not burned up what little time we have left." Molly followed Florence on her way back to town, with Gwen going with her.

Kat sighed and looked at the rest of the women. "Who else wants to leave?" She asked. About five ladies nodded and left too. Kat looked at Jack for guidance and direction.

Jack nodded at her. "Mrs. Montgomery, you'll have to be in charge of getting the women to clear the shaft. I'm going to go out to Josie's ranch and get a horse for you ladies to use and I'll be back soon."

Kat nodded, letting Jack know she understood…

* * *

"Florence?" Elizabeth asked as she passed her on her way back to the row houses. "Are the ladies finishing early today?"

"I quit! The shaft we were to clear collapsed. I can't continue. I'm so exhausted. Seven other ladies quit too, I need to get home. Goodbye." Florence said as she continued on.

Elizabeth shook her head as she walked up the stairs to Abigail's house. Sometime Florence could be so tedious!

* * *

Elizabeth was marking papers later that afternoon when she heard a knock on the door. She pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. "Coming."

When she opened the door, she saw Jack standing there. She was about to give him a piece of her mind, but decided to wait. "Constable, come in."

"Thankyou, Miss Thatcher." He replied as he came in through the door. He turned to Elizabeth as she closed the door. "I need some blankets, jackets, food and some water quickly."

"Why, Constable? What's happened?" Elizabeth asked as she quickly grabbed some food together.

Jack came over and filled a canteen up with water. "There was another collapse in the mine today. The shaft that the women were working in."

"I'm aware of that."

"Josie and Abigail are trapped in the air shaft. We're not going to be able to get them out tonight and they need warmth and food."

"Oh, no. Are they alright?" Elizabeth asked as she put the food into a bag.

"I'm not sure." He replied as he took the bag.

"Here, they'll need this." She said, handing him a full lantern and matches. "I'll go get some blankets and jackets for them and meet you outside."

Jack nodded and went out the door to his horse. He had just finished tying the food and lantern to his saddle when Elizabeth came back, her arms full of the requested items.

"Will this be enough?" She asked as she handed the things to him.

"I think it should be enough." Jack thought for a moment. "Would you be able to grab me a pencil? Mine is getting quite short."

She nodded, went inside and quickly returned with the pencil. "Is that all?"

"I think so. I best get back to the mine. The women will be finishing their shift soon." Jack said, mounting his horse. He tipped his hat to say goodbye and turned his horse back in the direction of the coal mine.

* * *

Jack got to the mine just as the ladies finished their shift in the mine. He rode over to where they were gathered, stopped his horse and dismounted. He walked over to Cat. "How far did you get cleared today?"

"Only about twenty yards. It's too bad that some of the women left, because now it makes it harder on the rest of us. With the amount of women we have left, it's going to take at least five days to get them out."

"I'm going up to the air shaft hole to give them some things, do you want to write them a note and I can give it to them with the other stuff?"

"Sure. Let me just put my tag on the board and I'll be right back." Cat walked over and got into line.

While Cat was doing that, Jack opened up his saddlebag and pulled out the paper and pencil. When Cat returned, he handed them to her.

Cat quickly scribbled a note and handed it back to Jack. "I have to go, but the ladies and I have decided to get here an hour earlier so we can get more done. I'll see you around, Constable."

Jack tipped his hat at her. "Mrs. Montgomery." He turned and mounted his horse again and rode up the mountain trail to the air shaft. When he got there, he set to work on cutting the mesh with bolt cutters. He soon had worked a hole in large enough for the bucket to go through.

He went back to his horse and got some of the things he had brought. He wrote his own note to them and put it in the bucket with the lantern and matches, then tied a rope to the handle. He put the bucket through the hole and let the rope out until it he felt it hit the bottom, then he sat down on a tree stump near the opening to the air shaft and waited….


	21. Chapter 20 (New People)

**Chapter 20**

 **Here is a nice long chapter. I don't know when I'll be able to update again, but I'll try and do it as soon as possible.**

 **Some more dialogue from Season 1.**

 **New characters coming in too…..**

 **Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Josie was woken up by the sound of the bucket hitting the bottom of the air shaft. She pulled out the packet of matches and lit one up. She saw the lantern inside the bucket, took it out and lit the wick before the match had gone completely out. She turned the lantern up and read the two notes that were also in the bucket. The first one was from Jack. It read

 _Mrs. Montgomery has rallied the women together to get you two out of here. They are clearing the shaft as quickly as possible. How are you two? I have some food, water and other things to let down to you. Please empty the bucket and give two tugs on the rope. That's my signal to pull it up._

 _There is a piece of paper and a pencil in there so you can send me up a note_

 _Mountie Jack_

Josie pulled out the paper and pencil and began to write a note back to Jack.

 _Thankyou, Constable for all you're doing. Please tell Mrs. Montgomery the same. Abigail has broken her leg. It's a compound fracture. I have set and splinted it, but it has a high risk of getting infected. She also has lost a bit of blood and I think she might have a little shock as well._

 _Please, the next time you come, would you bring some bandages, dressings, something to clean it and a poultice of some description? You could probably get Mrs. Montgomery to make one up._

 _Thanks,_

 _Josie._

Josie put the note into the bucket, gave to tugs on the rope and went over to Abigail. "Abigail." She put her hand on Abigail shoulder. "Abigail, wake up. Mountie Jack is sending us down some food."

Abigail's eyes opened and she yawned. "What were you saying?"

"Mountie Jack is sending us down some food and other stuff. We need to keep you hydrated and warm." Josie moved the coat on Abigail so it would keep her warmer.

"Yes, doctor." Abigail chuckled as Josie fused over her. "More of your text book knowledge?"

"A little, but mostly it's common sense." Josie stopped as the bucket came back down. She untied the blankets from of the rope and pulled out the food and canteens of water. She noticed that Jack had left another note.

 _Yes, I'll bring what you requested when I come back in the morning. I could pull you out maybe?_

Josie wrote back.

 _Sorry, Constable, but that wouldn't work. I could probably get out, but Abigail shouldn't be moved and I won't leave her. Anyway, the shaft gets real narrow through the middle and I defiantly do not want to get more stuck than I already am. Just make sure the people are working. We should be fine for a day or two._

When she had finished writing, she put the note into the bucket and gave Jack the signal to take it up. She waited to make sure he had felt the tugs and she saw him take it up. She went over to Abigail and handed the blankets to her, then she opened up the packages containing the food. "MMM! Apple pie!" She exclaimed with surprise.

"Apple pie?" Abigail asked as she moved away from the wall. Josie dropped a blanket down between her and draped it over Abigail's shoulders. Abigail leant back against the wall.

"Better?" Josie asked.

"Yes, thank you. What's for dinner?"

"Sandwiches and pie." Josie replied as she handed Abigail's portions to her, giving her the bigger ones.

Abigail noticed it. "No, Josie, I'll have the smaller one." She tried to hand it back to her.

"I'm not really hungry." Josie lied. "You need it more than I do."

Abigail nodded and began to eat. When they had finished their little meal, Josie gave her a drink from the canteen, had one herself and cleaned the coal dust from out of Abigail's wound. Then Josie saw the cloth that had been wrapped around the pie. "Great, I can use that." She quickly tied it around the wound to stop more dust getting into it.

She yawned and put the lamp out, snuggled up under the blankets next to Abigail and went to sleep.

* * *

It was just after six in the morning when Josie was woken up by a crash as the lantern was knocked over beside her. She sat up instantly and felt around for the lantern and picked it up before all the oil had spilled out of it, then she got her matches out and lit one. She held the mini torch up and saw the reflection of its flames in the eyes of the biggest rat she had ever seen.

Josie quickly lit the lamp and grabbed a stick of wood that was lying next to her and hit the rat again and again on the head, chasing it around the perimeter of the edge of the shaft wall.

The noise finally woke Abigail up. "What on earth are you…" She stopped when she saw what Josie was trying to kill.

Josie cornered the rat behind a small, dog sized boulder and hit it as hard as she possibly could over its head. The stick finally broke with the force she had used, but the rat was dead. "That stupid rat scared the living daylights out of me!" She exclaimed. "I'm surprised it didn't wake you up as soon as it had knocked the lamp into the wall." She kicked the rat to make sure that it was dead. "Filthy vermin!" she exclaimed under her breath.

"Well, I don't think I'll be sleeping again down here, I'll have visions of that rat sleeping in my blankets." Abigail exclaimed with horror.

Josie couldn't resist the urge to tease her a little. "Well, he already did tap dance on you twice before you woke up while I was chasing him."

"Ugh, yuck." She couldn't think of anything else to say.

Josie pushed the rat with her toe over as far away as she possibly could from where they were sitting, which very far, seeing that where they were was only eight feet wide in diameter and narrowed down to three feet four yards up.

She went back over to Abigail, sat down, and moved the blankets off Abigail's broken leg. "Looks like the bleeding has stopped. I'm glad that the cloth the pie came in was clean, because this coal dust wouldn't do anything good for your wound."

"Your right there." Abigail agreed.

When Josie finished her quick check over of the wound, she pulled her watch out and looked at it. It read 6:13.

"What's the time, Josie?"

"Six thirteen. I wonder when Mountie Jack will be around with breakfast."

Abigail giggled. "You wanting room service now to, hey?"

"Mmm, well, my stomach is rumbling and that rat at the last bit of the pie I had left over from last night as a snack."

"How about I tell you another story. Have you ever heard about the White horse of Calgary?"

Josie shook her head in reply. "I've never heard of it."

"One summer not long ago…"

* * *

"And they say that the horse still roams these hills, with the spirit of the Indian maiden still wild and free inside her." Abigail finished her story.

Josie was about to reply when she heard the bucket coming down. She lit the lantern again and emptied the bucket. She saw that Jack had left a note, so she wrote one back and sent the bucket back up again. "He got a poultice from Kat and the other things I asked for." She said as she handed Abigail her breakfast.

"Are you going to have your food?" She asked as Josie began to get the poultice ready.

"Yes, just let me clean your wound properly and then I'll eat."

'Okay, Miss Doctor."

* * *

It was just after ten in the morning. Elizabeth was staring out the window, thinking about Abigail, Josie and the other women working in the mine, when Cassandra spoke up. "Miss Thatcher. Miss Thatcher?"

"What's that?"

"It's supposed to be reading hour."

Elizabeth sighed. "Sorry. Your Right."

The children closed their math books and got out their reading books. Rachel walked up the front to Elizabeth's table. "Are you okay, Miss Thatcher?"

"I'm fine, Rachel. Thank you."

"When Mama came home from the mine yesterday, she said we have to leave Coal Valley. I want you to have this." She put the little piece of coal her father had given her onto the table. "I hope it helps you love this place as much as I do." Rachel said, then she turned and went back to her table and sat down.

Elizabeth looked at the little piece of coal and took it in her hand, thinking hard. Then it came to her what she needed to do. "Boys and girls, you may collect your things. Until further notice, school is out." She got up and walked out of the class room, leaving the students surprised and amazed.

"I'm not complaining!" Gabe said as he got up and ran out the doors to play.

"Me neither!" James agreed, following him out.

* * *

Kat was struggling with a beam when she felt someone else take some of the weight. "Elizabeth! What in the world?"

"I know I'm the last person you expected to see here."

"Actually, I think the truer statement is, you're the last person you expect to see here."

"Maybe so. But I'm here anyway."

Kat held the beam in position. "Hand me a chock and mallet."

"Got it, right here."

The women looked at where the voice had come from.

"Florence, your back!"

"Well, if little miss princess here can give it her best, so can the rest of us." Florence replied, handing Kat the mallet.

"What do you mean, "The rest of us?" Kat asked.

* * *

The rest of the women in town were grabbing their tools from the rack after they had signed the necessary papers. Miram and Cynthia were there too, with all the women dressed in their husbands mining clothes.

"Mr. Ansvil looked out the broken window at the women, a small smirk forming at the corners of his mouth. "Oh boy. This is not going to make someone happy."

He was quite glad that the women were taking a stand against Mr. Gowan, but when Mr. Spurlock walked in, he quickly wiped the smirk off his face.

"What the heck do they think they're doing?" He motioned to the women that were gathering their tools.

"They're getting Mrs. Stanton and Josie out, and are working around the clock to clear the rest of the shaft." Herbert turned around away from the Pinkerton.

"in my opinion, its better to just leave them there. Mrs. Stanton got herself into it, let herself get out of it. I'm going back to town." He left the office and got onto his horse, leaving Herbert discusted and staring at him.

* * *

Pinkerton Spurlock opened up the door to Mr. Gowan's office and walked in. "I'm not sure how to say this, but all the women are going into the mine."

"You mean all the widows."

"No. All the women."

"What do you mean when you say, "All the women?" Mr. Gowan was getting increasingly annoyed by his riddles.

"All the women in the entire town, and they're planning on working around-the-clock shifts to get to Josie and Abigail out, and they'll continue it until the shaft is cleaned." He put his hat back on and left Mr. Gowen stewing over what he had been told.

Mr. Gowan sighed and pushed himself against the back of the chair, rolling his hands on the desk. With the women planning on doing that, he would lose the rowhouses to them. His thoughts whirled around inside his head like a tornado.

 _Why on earth did I get Mr. Richardson to kill the mule and pull out those timbers to make the tunnel collapse. I should have known he couldn't do the job well enough to make them stop. If Jack finds out, I'll be dead meat for sure…_

* * *

For the eleven tired travelers, Coal Valley couldn't get into sight fast enough as they rode in the stage coach on the rough and broken ground. They had come to Canada from Australia a few weeks ago and had been traveling further inland for four weeks, sometimes by train, but mostly by stage. Now they were on the coach that would take them on the last leg of the journey to the place they would call home if they found work there.

Inside the coach, as noonday passed, the youngest of the boys woke up. He yawned and stretched, waking his father up with his movements. "How much further, Pa?" He asked as he looked up to a man of about thirty years and with brown hair and eyes.

"Not much further now, Josh, then you can get out." He replied.

The noise had woken up the other passengers and they too stretched as much as they could in the cramped quarters. "Oh, I'll be happy to be off this coach." The man's wife replied as she shifted her year-old toddler into a more comfortable position.

"Make that two people, Emily." The man replied.

"What do you think it will be like?" Emily asked.

Colin was about to reply, but his father Matt answered the question. "Well, it might be sort of like Paterson's Ridge back in Australia. My guess is that it's a small community that is run by the mining company. From the advertisement in the paper that we saw in Vancouver, we should all be able to get jobs there and soon we'll have land and a place to call home. It will be tough but the main thing is that we're all together."

Kathleen, his wife nodded her agreement. "I'm sure you two will be glad to get back to school." She said to the boy and girl who were siting opposite her.

Michael and Danni groaned. "Really, Ma? Do we have to go?" Michael asked.

"We have been through this before, Michael, yes you do. So does Danni and Josh."

Danni giggled. "Think of all the girls that will be chasing you for your looks, Michael."

"Very, funny."

"I wonder what our new teacher will be like. It's going to be different, going to a school where you're not the teacher. I wonder who is teaching the school back home now…"

"Probably Miss Kirov. Hey Col, you remember the teacher we had, Mrs. Trent? Man, she was so mean!"

"Oh, yes, I do. But we weren't exactly willing pupils." Colin replied with a chuckle.

Josh caught onto it. "Tell me about what you and Rob used to do. Please?"

"All right, Josh, but don't you get any ideas." Colin ruffled Josh's hair with his hand. "One day, Rob and I took a short cut to school, through the creek. As we were going across, we saw a big frog, so Rob got off his horse and caught it. That frog was not happy to be caught and it kept on jumping up and down in his coat pocket…."

* * *

Up on top of the coach, just behind the driver, sat Jay McGregor. His face was shaded from the sun with a big, cowboy hat and it covered his messy, brown hair. On either side of him sat a Colt .45 Peacemaker hosted on his hips and in his hands, was a Winchester leaver action rifle.

The driver spoke. "It's about here that the stage was robbed twice last month. The Constable in Coal Valley has been trying to get them, but he hasn't been able to arrest them yet. Keep an eye out for them and I'll focus on getting this coach out of here."

Jay nodded as he loaded in a round on his rifle. "Got that, Luke?" He looked down to his brother sitting next to the coach driver.

The man Jay spoke to smiled grimly. "Yep, why is it that you always manage to get into situations like these?" He asked as he pulled out his Peacemaker from its holster.

Jay ignored the teasing question. "Keep your eyes, peeled, Kiche." He patted a big white dog that was sitting next to him. The dog whined and liked his hands. "That's a good girl." He cocked his weapon. "Do the people inside know that there are outlaws around here?"

"No, the company doesn't want word getting out about these robberies. If that happens we lose business. If the robbers turn up, then they'll know about it. I'm just glad I have you and your brother on board. Those robbers will be sorry if they decide to stop this coach." The driver went silent again as he whipped the horses into a faster gallop; then, from out behind the rocks came four men, galloping their horses hard to catch up to the stage with bandannas tied around their face.

"Here they come." Jay exclaimed.

The driver looked behind him and saw that what Jay had said was true and he again whipped the horses, but they were tired and had nothing more to give.

"Let them come up closer, then if they start to fire, return it." The words had barely left Jay's mouth when a bullet went whistling through the air, just missing him and went through the side of the driver's hat.

The men where quickly gaining on the coach, then the one in front fired his gun again. Jay aimed the rifle and fired. The slug hit the man full in the chest and he fell off his horse.

* * *

The people in the coach were surprised when the first shot had rung out, and Josh stuck his head out the window. "There's men chasing us!" He exclaimed as Colin pulled Josh back in.

"Get down!" Matt said as he huddled over Kathleen and Danni.

"What are we going to do?" Emily screamed.

"Start praying, and hard!" Colin replied as a bullet went through the wood above his head, lodging its self in the front wall. "And hope that no more bullets make it through the back!"

* * *

The other two robbers kept on gaining on the coach. Jay emptied his rifle on one and Luke got the other. As the stage rounded another bend, out from behind a tree came another rider, who aimed his gun and fired at the driver. The driver fell off the coach and Luke quickly took hold of the reins. The robber aimed again, and was about to shoot Luke when Jay took him out. It was then that Jay realized that the driver had fallen off.

"I think that's all of them. Pull the horses up." Jay said to Luke.

"Is it safe?"

"It should be." Jay said as he scanned the surrounding area. "We need to check the driver out."

"Whoa, Whoa." Luke pulled the horses to a stop.

Jay and Kiche jumped down and moved around the stage and opened the door. "Are you guys alright?"

"Yes, we're fine, just quite a bit scared." Matt replied as he moved so that Kathleen and Danni could get up.

"I'm going to see if they're dead. Don't leave the coach. Here." Jay handed his rifle to Rob and gave him some bullets. "Use this if anymore come."

"Right."

"Colin, can you come with me please?"

"Sure." Colin got out of the coach and followed Jay down the road to where the men were lying on the ground.

"You go get their horses, I'll go and check the men."

Colin nodded and grabbed the reins of an excited chestnut mare who was jumping around and snorting. He patted her and calmed her down, then mounted her and proceeded to round up the other horses…

Luke wrapped the reins around the brake leaver and hopped down, walking over to Jay and the driver.

Kiche was whining and sniffing the man when Jay ran over to him. "Easy girl. Back." Kiche moved and Jay bent down and turned him over, checking his wrist for a pulse. He didn't feel any and checked his neck instead. He was glad that he could feel it there, slightly."

Luke finished seeing one of the robbers and came over to Jay. "Is he?"

"No, he is still alive, but barely. What about that man?" He nodded in the direction of the man Luke had just checked.

"He's gone."

"You go and put him on his horse, I'll go and see about the others." Jay started to walk away, motioning for Kiche to follow him. The man was lying on his back in the middle of the road. He saw the rise and fall of his chest, so the man was still alive, but he wasn't going to take any chances. He pulled out a piece of leather of his pocket and tied the man's hands together.

He went over to the other two men lying side by side and checked them both. He heard Colin coming up behind him. He looked at Jay, asking an unspoken question about if they were alive or not. Jay shook his head and Colin pulled off his hat out of respect, even though these men were criminals.

Jay broke the silence. "The driver's wounded bad, and three out of the four robbers are dead. It's unfortunate, but what are you supposed to do? They started the firing." He said this sort of more to him-self than to Colin. "We'll tie these three up onto their horses and get this guy up onto the coach. Luke, can I have your hand over here please?"

Luke ran over and helped him lift the man onto the coach. They then tied the horses with the dead men on them to the back of the coach. It didn't take too long until they were ready to go on again. Jay lifted Kiche back up onto the coach and he climbed up onto the seat. As he un-wrapped the reins from the brake leaver, Luke climbed up to. "Looks like my seat is taken.' He said, noticing that Kiche was sitting next to Jay.

"You'll need to keep an eye on the robber so I was hoping you would sit back."

"Sure." Luke sat down behind him. "Do you know how to handle this thing?"

"Probably not, but how much different is a six-horse team to a normal team? It's just more reins to hold." Jay slapped the horses with the reins. "Git up. H'yah!"

The horses lurched, then surged forward into a canter, then into a slow gallop, pulling the horses that were tied to the back along with them."


	22. Chapter 21 (Arrival)

**Chapter 21**

 **I know I haven't updated for a while, but here is a new chapter!**

 **I am more in to the action historical dramas then the romance kind, so this story will reflect that part of me.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

As the horses galloped along the last five miles Coal Valley, the two men up top sat in silence. Then Luke checked the drivers pulse. He put his hand on Jays shoulder. "Jay, he's gone too."

"Oh, boy. This has not been a good day. And now with him gone to, I'm not liking having to explain myself to the Constable. Four men dead, another wounded…" Jay's voice trailed off as he pulled the reins to steady the six-horse team as they curved around a corner and onto a straight stretch of road into town. He slowed them down to a canter, trot, then walk and finally a stop in front of the Mounted Police office and jumped off.

* * *

Jack was sitting at his desk in his office sorting through out paperwork and sipping a cup of coffee. He looked at the clock and sighed. It was just after a quarter to two. The stagecoach was going to be late, again, and he was waiting on some important mail that he knew it carried/ A few minutes later the door opened up and Mr. Yost came in. "Jack, this came in the mail last week for you and I only just uncovered it today." He handed the roll of paper he was holding to Jack.

"Thanks for that. Has the stagecoach arrived yet?"

"Nope, I hope that the stagecoach wasn't robbed again. Have you received anything from the Mounties about the robberies?"

"Not yet, but they have extra troops out. They still aren't sure of the identity of the gang, so I don't have anything to work with."

"Well, I'll leave you to your papers, but I'll let you know if anything comes in for you from your superiors."

"Sure, thanks, Mr. Yost." He replied as the storekeeper left.

Jack untied the string from around the paper and unravelled it. It was a wanted poster for the Hankshaw gang. He read the notice.

 _The Hankshaw gang has been robbing stagecoaches, banks and trains from Vancouver to Whitehorse._

 _If recognized, it is advised to stay away from them. Kelly Hankshaw has murdered four men and is highly dangerous._

 _His three companions are Tim Hankshaw, Ben Shamen and Max Wittaker. They are all highly dangerous and should never be approached._

 _If spotted, alert the Mounted Police. A reward is offered at the sum of $1000 for the information leading to the arrest of Kelly Hankshaw and $500 for each of his accomplices._

The poster went on to describe the four men with photos of their faces. Jack put the poster down and got up, throwing a log of wood into the fire as he did so. The he picked the poster up again and walked out the door and was about to go down the stairs when he saw the stage coming around the bend, with four horses tied behind it. The stage slowed to a stop just past where he was standing. The driver got off and went over to the opposite side of the stage.

* * *

Jack rolled the 'wanted' poster up and went over to the closest riderless horse. He ran his hand over its hide. The horse looked familiar to him. Then he saw the mark on its shoulder. It was Josie's brand. Obviously, the horse was stolen. He then walked over to one of the horses that had a man draped over its back and looked at the man's face.

"Ben Shamen!" He exclaimed with surprise. He heard footsteps approaching and turned around to see a man in his late twenties, with two .45 Colt Peacemakers tied down on either side in the gunfighters style. Jack immediately began to think he was trouble, until the man began to speak.

"In each town I visit, I make it a habit to go and introduce myself to the local law enforcement officer and let them know that I'm not here to cause trouble. But since you beat me to it, I'll introduce myself. I'm Jay McGregor." He said, extending his hand in friendship to jack.

The Constable shook his hand. "Jay McGregor." He thought he had heard the name before, then it dawned on him. "You're the Gunsmith aren't you?"

"I have been called that before, yes."

"I don't mean to sound nasty or anything, but would you please tell me what went on here?" Jack motioned towards the man on the horse next to him. He was sure of the answer though, but he wanted to make certain of it.

"About five miles out of here, a band of outlaws tried to run the coach down. At first there was only three people following us. They started to shoot at us, so my brother and I returned fire. I emptied my rifle on them, trying to scare them off, but they didn't take the warning to leave us alone, so I had no choice left but to shoot to kill. I got two of them and my brother got the other one. Then a fourth man came out from behind some trees and shot the driver. He tried to shoot my brother too, so I finished him off before he could. The driver died on the way in, but one of the robbers is still alive up top there. If there was another way to get rid of them except of killing them, I would have done it. I may have a reputation for being a fast gun, but I like to handle things without gunplay. I am sorry for what has happened, but they left me with no other choice." Jay nodded in the direction of the coach roof. "Luke, come give me a hand please, will you?"

Jack had his suspicions that the man that was still alive was Kelly Hankshaw and when Jay and Luke had gotten him down, he realized that he had been right again. Jack quickly went and opened the door for Luke and Jay and he helped them put him in the jail.

Jack examined the mans' shoulder. "Looks like the bullet has gone through. Its deep though. Jay, would you please go to that cupboard," He nodded in its direction. "And get me out the medical kit."

"Sure." Jay walked over, opened the door and looked inside. He saw a black bag and pulled it out. "This it?"

"Yes, thanks."

"Here." Jay handed it to him.

Jack opened up the bag and pulled out the stitching needle and thread. He cleaned the wound; stitched it shut and dressed it, then he left the jail cell, looked the door and went over to his desk. He motioned for Jay to follow him.

"I'll just go help them un-pack." Luke said to Jay as he turned to leave.

"Right, I won't take long."

Jack pored some more water into the kettle and sat down at his desk.

"Have a seat."

"Thank you." Jay sat down.

"I'll need to get a written statement from you and your brother about what happened on the road, but I'm pleased that this gang of outlaws has been disbanded and they won't be able to rob or murder any more citizens." He handed the "Wanted" poster to Jay. "There was a bounty out on that gang for information leading to their arrest, but you did the job for me. I'll be sending in for you to receive the money for your actions. You prevented them from robbing the coach and from murdering the other passenger, so you should be rewarded for your bravery. You did the job of bringing them in for me, so I'll be letting the Mounties know that as well. I couldn't catch them the last two time they robbed the coach because I had no idea who I was looking for."

As Jay read the paper, his eyes widened as he added together the bounty money. "Are you sure this is correct? That is a lot of money."

"Yes, it is. The Mounties were getting desperate to catch these men. Coffee?" Jack asked as he poured himself another cup.

"No, thanks. I really must go and help my family unload the coach and get checked in at the hotel. It was good to meet you, Constable?" he said in a questioning sort of way.

"Oh, sorry. The name's Thornton. Constable Jack Thornton. "I'll come and give you a hand if you like."

"It would be greatly appreciated." Jay said as he got up.

When they got outside, they saw that the passengers were out of the coach, and that the deceased men had already been taken care of. Most of the things had been un-loaded and were sitting in a neat pile near the back of the coach.

"Luke, Matt." Jay asked them to come over to him. "The Constable here just told me that there was a bounty out for those men and it's to the tune of two thousand, five hundred dollars!"

Luke gave a small whistle. "Looks like we'll be back in the ranching business soon then, brother. That's quite a nice sum of money."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot my manners Constable. I would like to officially introduce you to my brother Luke, and my uncle, Matt.

"Please to meet you both." Jack replied as he shook their hands.

Jay motioned the rest of the family over. "This is Kathleen, Matt's wife. Colin, his son and his wife Emily and their two children, Josh and Annie. My cousins Michal and Danielle, she likes to be called Danni for short and then my other cousin Rob, is lucky last! There! I'm done with the introductions!"

They chuckled with what Jay had said, and after they had each shook Jack's hand, they all returned to their work; except for Josh and Matt.

"So, what has brought you all to Coal Valley?" Jack asked as he untied the horses from the back of the coach.

"We saw an advertisement in Vancouver about the mine wanting workers, so we went to Calgary, stayed for a few days to rest, then came on to here." Matt said as he led one of the horses to the trough for a drink. "Hey, Josh, do you want to come give us a hand with the horses?"

"You bet!" Josh jumped down off the porch and came over, but slowly. He wanted to run to them, but he had been taught not to run around the horses so he wouldn't scare them. Matt handed him the reins of a bay mare and Josh led her over to the trough where Jack was already there watering the chestnut mare with the blaze.

"What's going to happen to the horses, Constable? Are they going to be put in jail too?" Josh asked.

Jack looked at the little five-year-old boy who was acting so serious about it. "No Josh. These horses are stolen, so we'll return them to their home a little later, okay?" He saw that josh was happy with his answer.

"So, what ranch are they from?" Rob asked as he came over and joined in on the conversation.

"One just a few miles out of town. I've been taking care of it for the owner lately and I noticed that they were missing about three weeks ago, but I didn't take any notice of it. I thought they had run off with her stallion."

"So, a lady runs a ranch? Oh, Josh, here, take these to Emily." Rob handed Josh a bag. "She's over there."

"Okay." Josh gave the horse one last pat and trotted off to do his task.

"I wouldn't call her a lady." Jack replied, smirking a little as he thought where this conversation was going.

"Obviously not. She couldn't be. Running a ranch or a station as we call it back home is no job for a woman. More than likely, her husband runs it and she just takes the credit for his work."

"No. Josie doesn't have a husband, and the reason I wouldn't call her a lady yet is because she is only twelve. And I might add, that at the minute, she isn't interested in getting one either!"

"Twelve? Honestly? Are you pulling my leg?"

"Another no." Jack was about to say more when Matt called out.

"Rob are you coming, or will Christmas in ten months' time beat you to it?"

"Coming dad. I'll talk to you later, Constable. I want to find out more about this Josie girl." Rob said as he left Jack with the horses.

Jack smiled to himself after Rob had left. Wait until Josie heard about this one. She would find it quite funny that someone had thought she was married and didn't believe that a twelve-year-old, and a girl at that, had what it took to run a ranch. He looked at his watch while the horses were still guzzling the water. It read a quarter past two. "Easy, girl." He said to the horse as he pulled its head up so it could catch its breath. "No need to rush, the water isn't going anywhere."

Jack waited a little, then let the mare drink again. He was going over a few things in his mind when he was interrupted again, but this time by Mr. Custer.

"I thought the stage still hadn't arrived." He said as he walked over to Jack.

"It was almost robbed again."

"Are you going out to find and arrest the men who did it?" Charlie patted one of the horses as he spoke.

"Nope. I already know who did it and with three men dead and one behind bars, I would highly doubt I need to make a trip out of town. Thanks to Jay McGregor and his brother, the Hankshaw gang has been successfully disbanded." Jack led the mare he had watered over to the other horses and tied them to the post. He gave the pinto stallion on his right a pat and went back out form among them to Charlie.

"Jay McGregor, the Gunsmith? Is he in town?"

Jack chuckled a little at Charlie's excitement. "Yes."

"Where?"

"He just checked into the hotel."

"Thanks!" Charlie was about to run over there when Jack placed his hand on his shoulder and stopped him. "Charlie, I think the coach horses would like to be looked after first."

"Oh, yes. Sorry. I got a little carried away."

"I should think so." Jack laughed as he climbed up on the stage to grab the mail bags.

"Where's Johnny? I thought he was assigned to this run…"

"I'm sorry, Charlie. John was killed during the attempted robbery." Jack replied sympathetically.

Charlie nodded. "Thank you, Constable. I didn't know him well, but he did his job well, it's going to be hard to find someone to take the route as well as he did. Well, I best get the horses unhitched. Can you please wire the stage company and let them know what has happened?"

"I can do that." Jack replied as he got down.

"Thankyou." Charlie slapped the reins. "Gid up."


	23. Chapter 22 (Plans)

**Chapter 22**

 **Hi guys, sorry I have taken so long in updating… But here is another chapter! Enjoy! (sorry its short)**

* * *

When the McGregor's had checked into their hotel rooms, they decided to go outside for a walk. As they opened the door and looked out at the town, they saw all the streets deserted and the entire place had the eerie feeling of a ghost town. Danni broke the silence. "Where is everyone?" She wondered out loud. "There aren't even any kids around…"

"I'm not sure, Danni." Matt replied, as he surveyed the town.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Kathleen interrupted.

"Well, I thought maybe we men should head to the mining office and sign up for work, but I think we should still have a look around first. Then maybe find something for dinner later…" He looked around at the family and they nodded their agreement to his suggestion.

"Kinche, come here." Jay called to his wolf as she began to go investigate the piano and lick it. She looked at him and trotted over when she knew he meant business. "Good girl." He praised her as he put on her leash. "It's just until you get used to here, missy." He turned to Josh, "Would you like to lead her?"

"You bet! Hey, theirs the Mountie. Come on Kinchie." He exclaimed as he gave a little tug on the dogs leash and ran off with kinchie at his heels.

"Josh, come back here." Emily called after him.

"Let him go Emily, we might as well get better acquainted with the only other person I can see around here at the moment." Colin gently reprimanded.

"I just don't want him to make a menace of himself," Emily shifted Annie to her other hip. "It won't be good for first impressions."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that." He chuckled as he saw Jack showing Josh how he did up the girth on his horse's saddle.

The McGregor's went over to Jack and he turned around to face them as they got closer. "Mister Josh here knows a lot about horses. He was just telling me about Sargent's marking and what they're called. Isn't that right Josh?"

Josh nodded and smiled at his mother. "See, he even has a whirl on his neck."

"That's good Josh," Emily said. "As long as you don't annoy the Constable."

"Ah, Josh could never be annoying. Could you?" Jack asked as he ruffled Josh's hair.

"Yep." Josh agreed with all seriousness, then he turned and began to pat the horse again.

"I was wondering," Matt asked as he went over closer to Jack. "Where is everyone in this town? The only people I have seen so far is you and the bartender at the saloon."

"They're all at the mine."

"The coal mine? Including the women?"

"Yes,and yes." Jack replied as he handed the horses reins to Josh. "Here, you can go take for Sargent a drink. The trough is over there. I'll have to refill this one later."

"Okay."

Jack watched as Josh lead his horse over the street to the other side, then he turned back to Matt. "About six months ago, there was an explosion in the mine. It killed over a third of the men in the community, leaving a lot of widows and fatherless children. Last week, Mr. Gowan, the man in charge of the mine here gave the all widows an eviction notice. He wants the houses back so that more men can move in. The widows, led by Abigail Stanton made a deal with him. They would clear and timber a shaft in exchange for keeping their houses."

Matt nodded, taking in the information Jack had just told him.

Jack continued. "Yesterday, just afternoon, the shaft they were working in collapsed again. All the widows got out, except for Abigail and Josie Blackwell. They took cover in one of the air shafts and now the rest of the women as well as the widows are working to get them out. The only have three days left until the evictions come due, and they still have to clear out another forty feet behind where Abigail and Josie are. I'm about to ride out there and see how things are going, you were lucky to catch me before I left."

Josh walked back over to where they were all standing. "He had his drink."

"Thanks Josh, you're a big help."

Josh smiled and trotted back over to Colin and Emily, very happy with himself indeed.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, I just have to grab a few things out of the office."

* * *

While Jack was in the office, the McGregor's came up with a plan of action and when he came back out, they were ready to tell him of their plan.

Jay spoke up as he gave Kinchie a pat. "We decided to come here to work in the mine, but I think that first we should help the women save their homes and get Abigail and Josie out before their evictions come due."

"Well," Jack was lost for words. "What can I say? Thank you so much for that."

"Is there anything that we can help with?" Kathleen asked, motioning towards the kids and Emily.

"The children and older men and women who can't work in the mine are preparing food for their families and friends. They would greatly appreciate your help. The Reverend Anderson is out at Kat Montgomery's house. We have to go past there on the way to the mine anyway, so we can drop you off there."

"Sound like a good idea."

"We'll need to go and get some horses from the stables. It's a fair walk from the rowhouses back to town and it'll be dark by the time you come back. Come on, it's this way." Jack led his horse over to the livery and the McGregor's followed him. "Charlie?"

"Yes?" The reply came from in the stables.

"I need the five horses saddled and a wagon readied."

"Alright, do you want to take the four stolen ones? You could take them back to the ranch when your done with them."

"That's fine, it'll save you doing it later."

It didn't take long for him to tack and harness the required horses and they soon were ready to go. Jack paid him for the hire of the horses and wagon and then he led the way to the mine with the McGregor's following him.

* * *

As they rode down the road to the rowhouses and mine, Jack and Jay began to talk together. "So, tell me why you became a gunslinger Jay."

"It wasn't by choice, if I had my way I would never have chosen the life of a gunslinger. A few things happened back where I came from in America when I was the Sheriff in the town I lived in. I had to learn to shoot like a gunslinger to survive. Its hard when you get a reputation for being a fast gun, people like to challenge you, and if you don't want the be pushing up the daisies in some church yard, you have to shoot them first."

"So, what did you want to do?"

"Find a nice little place to settle down, get myself a pretty wife and have a couple of kids. That was the plan, but plans change. First, I need to find my own ranch and get that running, then I'll work on the wife and kids part."

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

"And your plans?"

"When I became a Mountie, I decided that it would be best not to marry, that way I can give my best to the people I serve."

Jay gave him a little look. "Like I said, plans change. It only takes one little pretty woman to turn your world upside down."

"I know what you mean." Jack whispered to himself. "I'll need to get a written statement off you and Luke when you have a chance.

"Sure."

They rode on the rest of the way in silence, then they came to the rowhouses. "Here we are ladies." Jack said, halting his horse.

Kathleen gently pulled the horses to a stop. "Whoa, whoa." She got off the seat first and Emily handed Annie to her. "Had a good sleep little one?" She said as she gave her back to Emily when she had gotten off the wagon.

Annie stuck her thumb in her mouth for an answer.

Josh, Danni and Michal jumped down out of the wagon and joined Kathleen and Emily.

Matt and Colin dismounted their horses, gave the reins to Jack and went over to their wives.

"Colin, please be careful." Emily said as she gave him a hug.

"Honey, you know I'll be careful."

"I know, but I'll still worry."

"I'll be fine, but I have to go."

Kathleen gave Matt a kiss and a hug and then he and Colin mounted their horses and cantered down the road towards the mine…


	24. Chapter 23 (Rescued)

**Chapter 23**

* * *

Jack and the McGregor boys slowed their horses down as they came around the bend towards the mine. They trotted their horses over to the office, stopped them and dismounted, tying the reins to the railing. Jay turned to Luke. "Best you take off you guns and put them in the saddlebag, please Luke. Coal dust isn't going to do your guns any world of good and I don't want to spend the next six months cleaning them." he teased.

"Oh, so very funny." Luke replied as he gave Jay a friendly shove as he put them away. "Happy now?

"Yes, that's better." Jay replied as he unbuckled his own belt and placed it inside the saddlebags of his horse. He then walked onto the veranda where Luke, Matt, Rob and Colin were waiting for him.

"I have to go." Jack said as he moved his horse away from the others.

Matt nodded. "That's fine, thanks for showing us the way out here."

"Anytime. If you need any help, you know where to find it." Jack said as he wheeled his horse and cantered away.

"Appreciate it." Matt opened the door of the office and the men walked in.

"How may I help you, gentlemen?" Mr. Ansvile asked.

"Mr. Ansville, I'm guessing?"

"Yes, any you might be?"

"I'm Matt McGregor, and these are my two boys, Colin and Rob, and my nephew, Luke and Jay. We just arrived in town and were looking for work, but first we would like to offer our help to the women in clearing out that shaft."

Mr. Ansvile wasn't quite sure what to make of their request... "Where did you find out about that?

"The Constable filled us in on what happened."

"Alright, if you're sure." He opened up one of the draws in his desk and pulled out some of the papers. "You'll each need to sign your wavers, you may use my desk."

When they had all signed them, they handed them back to Herbert. "If you'll follow me, I'll get you acquainted with a lady who can help you get started."

As Herbert led the men out of the office to the mine, he saw Elizabeth coming out, leading the horse with a full load of rocks. "Miss Thatcher?"

"Yes?"

"Can you please show these men to the shaft you ladies are working in? I really must get back to the office and finish off a report for Mr. Gowan."

"Certainly." Elizabeth smiled.

"I'll leave you to it then."

Matt walked over to Elizabeth and helped her tip the cart out.

"Thank you. Whoa, easy Blossom." She gently soothed.

"Matt McGregor." He said as he stretched his hand forward for a handshake.

"Miss Thatcher. Elizabeth Thatcher; and who might they be?" She motioned towards the men standing beside him.

Matt gave a brief introduction. "Colin, Rob, Luke, and Jay McGregor. We've just oved here."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Let's go get to work."

* * *

As Jack opened the door to the jail, he noticed that the man in the ceil was awake. "May i get you anything?"

"The key." he replied arrogantly. "and a one way ticket out of this god-forsaken place."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you. The Mounties will be here to pick you up as soon as you're well enough to travel."

"My brothers will be coming for me." he replied threating. "People might get hurt."

"Well, if they show up, I'll be ready to greet them.. Don't think for one moment you'll escape the justice you deserve."

* * *

As the men walked through the tunnel to where the women were clearing out the shaft, Elizabeth explained what had happened with the mine." I decided the other day that i would come and help. My example encouraged the other women to come aswell. Mrs. Stanton told me i was doing enough looking after the children, but i felt that i had to come and help.

The men nodded as the listened to her story. As they came around the bend, Elizabeth stopped the horse. "Whoa, easy girl." She said as the mare snorted. She turned to the men. "The tracks for the cart end here. We have to bring the rocks here ourselves using buckets." She handed the horses reins to Gwen and motioned for the men to follow her. "Come on, this way."

As they followed Elizabeth to the end, Rob moved faster to catch up to her. "Why aren't the other men helping to get Mrs. Stanton and Miss Blackwell out?"

"Mr. Gowan gave strict orders that the men weren't to help us under any circumstances. I have only been here for a few months, so I don't know everything that actually happened, but when you find out, you'll understand. Mr. Gowan wants us to fail so that he can have the rowhouses back. He doesn't care that he'll leave a lot of women and children hopeless. Anyway, I shouldn't be bothering you with our tale of woe."

"Its fine, Miss Thatcher. My family and I will work hard to make sure that the ladies of this town won't lose their homes. A person with that type of moral character shouldn't still be breathing."

"I agree, and after what he did to blackmail Mr. Stanton…" Her voice trailed off. As they rounded a corner, Elizabeth spoke again. "Well, here we are."

They stopped at a wall of rubble and timber. The McGregor's stared at the wall of rocks and mentally calculated the work that was involved, then Matt saw a woman struggling to lift a timber and he ran over to help her lift it. Jay, Luke and Rob also set to work on filling their buckets with the rubble and began passing them back to the women who took them to the cart and emptied them.

Colin quickly spoke to Elizabeth. "How much further is there left to clear until we reach Mrs. Stanton and Josie?"

"Hopefully it won't be too much longer." She replied as Colin helped her to move a big rock. "It should only be another twelve feet or so. By now I'd imagine their getting pretty anxious to get out. It's not very pleasant down here. Luckily there isn't any rats in this shaft today, they get really big down here."

"How big?"

"I've been told their almost the size of a big cat, so you don't want to get near one, and it sure doesn't make a person feel comfortable knowing their around."

* * *

Just before their shift ended, Elizabeth went over to where Matt was working with his pick. "Our shift is over, so we need to go out and change places with the other women. You guys are welcome to come with us and finish for the day or have a quick break as we change over."

Matt turned to the rest of the men. "What do you want to do boys?"

"I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I want to keep working. Josie and Mrs. Stanton can't be too much further ahead." Rob said, watching as the others nodded their agreement to what he had said.

"Alright. I'll be going out now then, thank you again for coming to help us. Its been a God send, and I'm sure the other women would agree with me." Elizabeth said as she grabbed her lantern to leave.

"Your most welcome, Miss Thatcher." Matt replied, returning to his work.

* * *

"Abigail? Abigail? Abigail, wake up." Josie said softly, as she gently nudged her.

"Yes?" Abigail opened her eyes and groaned. "What?"

"Can you here that?" Josie motioned to the wall with the door in it."

Abigail listened closely, and she could hear the muffled sounds of picks striking rock, and voices talking. "Yes!"

* * *

As Rob and Colin lifted a good sized boulder out of the way, Colin could see part of the door leading to the air shaft appearing. "Look!" He called out to the other McGregor's as he and Rob put the rock they were moving to the side. "We'll need some more help with that one." He motioned to the big rock that was left blocking the rest of the door.

"How are we going to move that?"

"Dynamite?" Luke suggested.

"No, I don't think so Luke." Jay replied as he looked at the roof. "I really don't like the look of that roof, dynamite could cause it to collapse more. If we get our picks in here," he pointed to a place in the rock. "We should be able to move it far enough out of the way to get to the door."

It took the men quite a few minutes of puffing and panting to get the stubborn rock to move, but eventually it sat on the pile waiting to be taken out of the shaft.

Colin went to the door and tried to open it. "It's stuck, the rock must have shifted, jamming it in place.

"Here, use this." Matt said, handing Colin a pick.

"Thanks Dad." Colin used the butt end of the pick to smash the door, and pried open the rest of it. "Mrs. Stanton? Josie?"

Josie lit her lamp. "Hello?"

"We're here to get you two out." Colin replied.

Josie nodded, then turned to Abigail. "Age before beauty." She joked.

Abigail gave a little giggle. "Alright, Josie. Very funny, I'm not THAT old."

Josie looked back at the man crouching down at the door. "Mrs. Stanton has broken her leg, so I don't know how we can move her out without injuring it more, Mr?"

"McGregor, but just call me Colin. There's five of us McGregor men, so it could get confusing." He chuckled. "And like Mrs. Stanton said, I'm not THAT old to get called Mr. McGregor. I think that if one of us walk on either side of you, Mrs. Stanton, it should be fine, if you can handle it."

Abigail nodded. "I've handled the pain for two days without anything to help it, so I think I can handle another hour."

"Here, Abigail, I'll give you a hand." Josie said as she helped Abigail squeeze through the hole Colin had made. Matt and Luke were ready on the other side to grab her, and then they helped each other get her out of the mine.

"Your next." Colin said after Abigail had gotten through.

Josie coughed a few times, then crawled on her belly through the broken door. As Colin helped Josie stand up, a sharp pain shot through her leg, making her bite her lip to stop herself from calling out and nearly falling over, but Colin caught her and picked her up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. My legs are just a bit cramped from not moving for nearly two days." She lied, not telling him about her injury and the fact that it was throbbing badly.

Colin nodded, seemingly being happy with her explanation. "Right, let's get you out of here." He said as he picked her up.

"I can walk." Josie protested.

"Oh, sure, and that's why you nearly just fell over?"

"Point taken. Let's just get out of here, it's really starting to give me the creeps." She said as she noticed the roof. "And that roof is not the best I've ever seen." She added.

"Yes, I did notice that. Jay, are you and Luke going to continue work in here?"

Jay stood up and stretched his back, then he looked at Luke. "Do you want to?"

"Yeh, why not. We've only been in here for about five hours now." He joked. "No, I'll stay if you are."

"Well, I was planning on it."

"Right. If that's the case you two, can you hand Josie that lantern? We'll need to be able to see to get out of here."

"Sure" Jay replied as he handed it to Josie.

As Colin and Josie left the mine, they were meet by the other women who were starting their shift. The relief of seeing Josie and Abigail safe and sound was on their faces and a chorus of "Thank you" rose from them.

Josie was very happy to be out of the mine, and she was laughing at a joke Colin had just told her when Mr. Gowan walked out of his office. She stopped and became very silent and Colin could feel her tensing up at the sight of that man.

Colin excused them from talking from Kat, saying that he really need to get Josie back to town and he went over to the horse he had ridden on. As he put Josie onto the horse, she yelped as the stirrup banged into her wound.

"Sorry, Josie." Colin said as he mounted the horse behind her.

"It's okay Colin, nothing I can't handle." She replied as she yawned, handing Colin the reins. He turned the horse around and they cantered back down the road to the rowhouses.

As they rode on back to the row houses, the final rays of the setting sun were hidden behind the mountains, and the moon and stars were shining brightly. Colin was admiring how beautiful the moon was when he noticed a strange sound. It startled him at first, but he realized it was just Josie. He looked down at her, and saw that she was fast asleep against his chest, snoring softly. Colin chucked a little bit at her, but he let her sleep on.

* * *

When they got to the row house, he saw that Matt and Rob had already left. He pulled the horse to a stop. "Josie, Josie, your home." He whispered.

Josie's eyes fluttered open immediately and she realized that she had been asleep with her head on Colin's shoulder. "Sorry." She apologized, quite embarrassed.

"Never mind that Josie." Colin said as he dismounted. "You're really tired, and anyway, my sister has done that a few times too."

Josie nodded as he helped her into the row house. They had just closed the door and hung up their coats when Elizabeth came down the stairs. When she saw them, she hurried over.

"Are you okay?" She asked Josie when she saw her leaning on Colin.

"Yes I'm fine, just so tired." She said as she sat down. "But what about Abigail?"

"Abigail's fine. She's sleeping now." Elizabeth turned to Colin. "Your father has gone into town to get your wife. He said she was a nurse."

Colin nodded. "Yes, Emily was a nurse before she married me, her skill has come in handy many times."

As Colin and Emily spoke, Josie could hardly keep her eyes open long enough to get her boots off. She decided to rest her eyes for a little bit and lay down on the couch and was soon fast asleep.

Colin and Elizabeth were still talking when Matt and Emily opened the door and walked in.

"Emily!" Colin exclaimed.

Emily ran over to him and gave him a hug. "I'm so glad your alright."

"Yes, didn't I say I would be fine? Emily, I would like to introduce you to Miss Elizabeth Thatcher. She is the teacher her. Miss Thatcher, my wife, Emily."

Emily and Elizabeth shook hands. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Thatcher."

"Oh, please, just call me Elizabeth."

"Okay, and you may call me Emily."

Colin turned around. He was about to introduce Emily and Matt to Josie, but she was sound asleep, snoring softly again.

Emily put her hand on Colin's shoulder. "I guess that's Josie?"

Colin giggled. "Yep, that's her alright. She was asleep the whole time we were riding here." He grabbed the blanket that was on the back of the chair and placed it on her.

"Elizabeth, can you please show Emily to Abigail's room? I need to get back to the mine. Rob's waiting for me outside."

"Okay, this way Emily." Elizabeth led her upstairs

"Are you going to come back to the mine with us?" Matt asked Colin.

"No, I thought it best to stay here and keep an eye on Josie, and help Emily if she needs it."

"Okay, I'll see you later then." Matt replied as he left.

"Bye, Dad." Colin said as Matt went back out the door.

As he turned around, he saw that the fire was getting low, so he placed some more wood on it. He yawned and went to go sit down on the other chair when he heard Josie sniffling softly. He went over to her, but she was still asleep, with tears running down her face. Colin's heart broke when he saw them. This girl was younger than his sister, yet already she had fought though a lot.

As Colin sat down and watched Josie, he wondered at the rest of her story. All he knew about her was that she had gotten herself trapped in a mine with Abigail. Questions raced through his mind. What happened to her mother? Where was her father? Did she have any other relatives? What was she doing in the first place being in the mine? What was she feeling like right now, other than being tired? Why was she so skinny? Why did God allow bad things to happen to good people? What would happen to her? Would she be sent to an orphanage?

All of a sudden, Josie screamed and woke up with a start. "No!"

Colin got up and went over to her. "Its okay, its okay. Your safe here." He said as he wiped her tears away with his handkerchief. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Josie nodded.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Colin asked gently. "I'm happy to listen."

"No, its fine. I'll be fine." Josie said as she struggled to regain her emotions. "Maybe later."

"That's okay. Whenever you're ready, I'll listen. Go back to sleep now."

She nodded as she laid back down.

"Do you want me to stay beside you until your asleep? If you think it'll help."

"Please, would you if you want."

"Okay. Nothing's going to hurt you now. You have nothing to worry about." Colin said gently and he sat down on the floor beside the couch, making a resolve to protect and love this girl as much as he did his own sister, whatever it took to do that."


	25. Chapter 24 (Introductions)

The sun was starting to shine through the window and onto Josie's face the next morning. She could feel its warmth and turned over, trying to get back to sleep, but it was no use. She sat up and yawned softly, placed the blanket aside and rolled up her trouser leg so that she could look at her wound.

As she gently pulled it up, she could see that it had bled right through the dressing and bandages again. She unwound them and sighed. "Not again!"

The noise woke Colin up. He yawned and stood up, folding the blanket he had used and placed it back onto the chair. He looked over at Josie and noticed the bloodied dressings and bandages on the floor in front of the couch. "Josie?" He asked as he went over to her.

Josie jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Its okay."

"You scared me." She said as she tried to hide her wound, but Colin had already seen it

"Josie." Colin said softly, but sternly." Let me see it." He saw her nod and he went and crouched down in front of her leg. "How did this happen? Did it have anything to do with your bad dream last night?"

"No. It's a long story. I'll give you the short version. I managed to get cautgh in a bear trap. The Constable and Abigail found me two days later and brought me here. When it had first happened, the gash went right to the bone on both sides. I'm lucky it didn't fracture as well in the bargain. I've been quite sick too because of it." Josie went silent.

"How did you get caught in it in the first place?" Colin continued to look at the wound.

"I was walking through the forest when I stepped on it. I didn't realize it was there." Josie looked away and Colin knew she thought the matter closed.

"Where do you keep the first aid kit?"

"In the kitchen, top cupboard on your left." Josie instructed as Colin got up. "Its at the back."

Colin found the box easily and took care of cleaning Josie's wound. "Quite a nasty gash it caused." He commented.

"Yeh, especially as before you could see the bones. Not a word about this to anyone, alright? I don't need people fussing and pitying me."

Colin smiled a little bit, Josie was quite temperamental. "Promise."

"Good." She replied as she tried to stand up. She stood for a few seconds, testing out her leg to make sure it was okay.

"You alright?"

"Yeh, just making sure that I can handle walking. Right, can you cook?" She asked as she walked around the couch to the table.

"Well, I'm no fancy chef, but I'm no charcoal maker either. What do you want me to do?" He asked as he followed her to the kitchen and placed the box back where it belonged.

"I'll have a look and see what there is." Josie said as she went over to the icebox and opened it. "Looks like its eggs on toast today, here." She said handing him the eggs and milk. "Test the eggs please. I need to go outside and grab some kindling for the fire and do a couple of other things."

"Alright."

When Josie returned with an armful of wood, Colin had already mixed up the eggs, got them on the stove and was cutting up slices of bread. She put the wood down in the basket and washed her hands in the bowl. As she dried her hands on a towel, she turned to Colin. "How long is your family planning on staying here?"

"Until we find somewhere we can live. We only came to Canada a few weeks ago." Colin replied as he put the bread into the oven to heat up.

"I guess you weren't from around here by your accent. Your Australian, right?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Oh, I have my ways." She replied with a hint of cheekiness. "No, a neighbour that used to live here was from Australia and he had the same accent, so I put two and two together. So, what brings the McGregor clan halfway across the world?"

"Like you told me before about your leg, it's a long story. We lost the family ranch and saw that the government here was giving out land up North. That's where we've planned on going."

"Oh." Josie said, a little crestfallen. "Do you guys really need to go North?"

"Maybe, maybe not. It depends on where we can get work. We saw in a paper in Vancouver about the mine hiring men, and we are going to try to get work there." Colin jumped as Josie dropped a plate, he noticed as soon as he had mentioned the word "Mine."

She looked at the plate on the floor, and looked at him, terror and sadness showing on her face and in her eyes. She struggled to keep her voice steady as she spoke "Have you heard about the mine disaster that happened a few months ago?"

"Yes, Constable Thornton told us what happened."

"Promise me that if I find you and your family work, you wont go back in to that mine."

"Why?"

"Have you wondered why my last name is different from Abigail's?"

"Yes, but I wasn't going to ask."

"Its okay. I don't mind telling you a little bit. My father was best friends with Mrs. Stanton's husband. They both died in the explosion."

"Josie, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize."

"My mother passed away before the explosion." Josie said as she grabbed the cutlery and placed it on the table. "I've been on my own since that happened until Abigail found me. I've been here since then. You'll learn more about me over time, but that's enough for you now."

"The egg's are ready." Colin said as he pulled the pan off the stove. "What other work is there here than the mine?"

"I have some work that needs to be done on my ranch, that's about all the work I know that people would be hiring for.

"Your ranch? Oh, Emily." Colin said to her as she came down the stairs. "Breakfast is ready."

"Okay, thank you. I'll just go get Elizabeth down" She disappeared back up the stairs.

"Okay, back to our conversation. Ranch?"

"Yes. My father owned a large property. I'm the only child and there is no other relatives living that I know of, and I'm not about to go and try to find them. I plan to continue the running of the ranch, but I'll need to hire some people to work for me. But all that stuff can wait, I want to find out more about you guys."

"What do you want to know?" Colin asked as he passed Josie some plates.

"How many of you McGregors are there?"

"Well, you've seen Emily, my wife. We have a girl, Annie, and a boy, Josh. My father, Matt, and his wife, Kathleen. I have a two brothers, Rob and Michael and a sister Danielle. We all call her Danni. Then I have my two cousins, Luke and Jay."

"Wow, that's a lot of family. You guys are so lucky to have that many."

"Yes, we are. Good morning, Miss thatcher." Colin said as Emily and her came back down.

"Colin, please just call me Elizabeth, and I must say that breakfast smells wonderful." Elizabeth said as she sat down at the table. "Who cooked it?"

"Mostly Colin." Josie replied. "I'll just put another log on the fire." She replied as she went over to the wood basket.

When Josie sat down at the table, everyone else was ready to eat. "Who would like to ask the blessing?"

No one said anything for a few seconds, then Colin nodded. "I'll say it." He waited until the ladies had bowed their heads, and closed their eyes. "Lord, we give thanks for this food. May it nourish us and give us strength. Please be with us today and protect us all. Amen." Colin opened his eyes. "Now, before we do begin, I would just like to introduce you two properly." He said, motion to Emily and Josie. "Josie, this is my wife Emily. Emily, this is Josie. Right, lest eat now." He joked as he picked up the salt shaker.

"How's Abigail, Emily?" Josie asked as she cut her bread.

"She's sleeping now, but I think she'll be fine. I'll get the Constable to wire the doctor and he can make sure her leg will heal right though, but I think it will. I might add you did a good job of setting and splinting in, where did you learn to do that?"

"My father showed me. A boy had an accident on our ranch, and we had to set and splint it to be able to get him to the house. But this was the first time I have actually done it. Mmm." She said as she took a bite of the eggs. "These are good, or it might just be that I was getting a little sick of the sandwiches we were getting in that mine."

"Very funny, Josie. That's my mother's recipe. She used to make them for us every week." Colin replied. "I bet your glad to be out of that mine."

"Oh, yes. I couldn't get any sleep down there after a rat attacked us."

"A rat?" Elizabeth asked, eyes opened wide.

"Yep, and a big one too, almost the size of my cat."

"What did you do?" This came from Emily.

"Killed it with a stick, it took quite a bit though. But the look on Abigail's face was compensation enough when I teased her about it tap dancing on her." Josie chuckled again at the thought.

"You cheeky thing." Elizabeth said as she took a sip of tea from her cup. "But let's talk about things other than giant rats, shall we?" She put the cup down. "Colin, Emily was telling me last night you used to live on a station? I believe that was what she called it. What was it like where you guys were?"

"Yes, we call a ranch a station back home, but it's the same thing. It was mountain country, much like around here. Dad owned lots of cattle and horses, and Rob and I worked on the station with him." Colin replied.

They talked for a while longer, and Josie collected their plates when they had finished, and went and washed them. Then Emily and Elizabeth excused themselves, saying they needed to go into town.

After the two women had left, Colin helped Josie with the last of the dishes and put them away. As Josie was closing one of the draws in the cupboard, and idea came into her head. "Colin?"

"Yes, Josie?"

"I've just had an idea. Since there is a lot of you McGregor's, its going to cost you guys a lot in accommodation. The ranch house would be big enough for all of your family, with room to spare. I need workers, and you guys need a roof over your heads and beds to sleep on. Would you think they would be willing to work at my ranch? I'd pay well and you guys would have a roof over your heads until you decide to move on, if you do decide that is."

Colin was lost for words at her generous offer. "Why, Josie, I don't know what to say."

"Then just say yes."

"Of course you would need to talk to the rest of the family, but I think that it would be a great idea." Colin was about to say more when a knock on the door. "I'll go get it."

"Thanks Colin." Josie replied as she placed the bowl of eggs into the icebox.

Colin went and opened the door. "Dad, have you finished at the mine now?" He asked.

Matt entered the house. "Yes." He yawned. "We cleared and finished timbering the shaft about an hour ago."

Josie gave a little squeal of delight. "Then that means that the widows get to stay in their homes! Oh, where are my manners, I'm Josephine Blackwell. Josie for short."

"Matthew McGregor." He shook Josie's hand. "Matt is what everyone calls me, and you can call me that to. Josie, the Constable asked me to tell you that the Doc will be here this afternoon or tomorrow morning."

"Thankyou for passing that information on to me. I was hoping to speak with you and the rest of the McGregor family and thank you gentlemen for helping get us out."

"Our pleasure, Josie. We were happy to help, although I don't think we'll be going back there in a hurry. That Mr. Gowan made it quite clear to us that we're not welcome there, or in town. So I guess we will have to move on."

Josie tensed up at the mention of Gowan, but she took it in her stride "Oh. I see. Can you at least promise me you guys wont make a final decision until I have had a chance to tell you all my proposition?"

"Alritgh, I promise. Since we have no other plans, would you like to come to the saloon at say, 11 o'clock and tell us of your idea? That's where we are staying for the moment, and we need to go and get cleaned up first."

"Sure. That will be fine. I'll see you again at eleven and I look forward to meeting the rest of the McGregor's. Please excuse me, I need to go and check on Abigail." Josie replied as she left the two men and went upstairs.

"Nice mannered girl, that one." Matt said to Colin after she had left. "She's not Abigail's though, is she?"

Colin shook his head. "No. Josie's an orphan. Abigail has been looking after her for a little while. Her father was killed in the mine explosion, and she also told me that her mother was gone too. Apparently she has no other relatives, and she was quite adamant that she wasn't about to go looking for them either. With some family's I know of, I don't blame her. Her father owned a decent sized ranch she told me, and she's looking for some people to help her run it, but I'll let her tell you the rest later.

"Mmm, interesting. I wonder why she doesn't want to find out if she has any more family."

"Yeh, well, because she is a minor, they have first clam on her father's land, and I don't think she'd like that at all.

"Your probably right there Col. Look, I have to go back to town, everything's alright here?"

"Sure, Dad." Colin looked at the clock. "See you later." He walked his father out, and after Matt had ridden off, he went upstairs to see if Josie or Abigail needed anything. He knock soflty on the door to let them know he was there.

Josie looked up. "Oh, come in Colin. Colin this is Abigail. Abigail, Colin McGregor. His wife, Emily was looking after you last night."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. McGregor." Abigail said as she shook his hand. "Too bad I'm not up, or I'd offer to make you some breakfast."

"Oh, I've already eaten. Josie helped me make up some for Elizabeth and Emily to. And you can just call me Colin, mam. It'll be easier since there is now five of us mister McGregors in town now." Colin replied as he sat down in the other empty chair.

Abigail was quite surprised. "How many of you McGregor's are there?"

"Eleven. You've meet my wife, Emily, and my Matt and my brother Rob. Those two helped get you out of the mine."

"Yes, I remember them."

"There's also my sister, Danni, my other brother, Michael, Matt's wife Kathleen. Jay and Luke, my cousins and my two children, Josh and Annie."

"That's quite a large family! Where did you guys come from?" Abigail asked as she sat up so she could look at the people she was talking to.

"A little town in Australia called Paterson's Ridge. It's in mountain country. Dad lost the land we worked on and so we all decided to come to Canada and try to claim some land up North." Colin paused, then changed the subject. "Is there a school here?"

"Yes, Miss Thatcher, or Elizabeth is our teacher. The school is held in the saloon since the church burned down. It's the only place big enough to hold all the kids since we don't have a town hall." Abigail explained.

Josie joined the conversation. "I'm sure Danni, Michael, Josh and Annie will be glad to start back at school." She said cheekily.

"No, probably not. But Annie's too young to go yet. She's only a baby."

"How old's the other kids?" Abigail asked.

"Danni's fourteen. Michael's twelve and Josh is eight. Annie is just under a year old. Rob, Luke and Jay are about the same age as me. Danni is very mischievous and cheeky, like you Josie" He teased. "Josh is the same. Michael's the best behaved out of the three of them, and he is quite good with horses."

Josie stood up. "Abigail, do you want me to go and fix you some breakfast?"

"If you like, I am getting quite hungry."

"I'll come help." Colin offered, about to get up.

"No, its fine Colin, I have it all under control." Josie said as she left. "You stay and have a nice little chat."

"She's a really sweet girl." Colin remarked to Abigail.

"Yes, she is." Abigail agreed. "And she's had it harder than most her age. Losing her brother, and both her parents so close together has really taken a toll on her. But it seems weird that she almost has like, forgotten about them. What has she told you?"

"She told me her father died in the mine explosion, and she said her mother was gone as well, but she never mentioned her brother."

"Well, please don't let on that I told you about her brother. If she hasn't told you herself, she could get quite upset about me telling you. Her mother, Georgia died three days before the mine accident. It shook Josie and Luke quite a bit. Then he was taken as well. Josie's been living on her own at their ranch for four months until she came into my care."

"Being out there wouldn't have anything to do with her leg being the way it is, would it?"

"How did you know about that?"

"She woke me up this morning. She slept on the coach last night and I fell asleep in the rocking chair beside the fireplace. She was checking it, but she really doesn't want anyone to find out about it."

"Yes, Josie has always been like that. Keeping things to herself and never wanting to be a bother to anyone. I don't think she gets the fact that people worry about her when they love her. I honestly think she didn't have much of that." Abigail suddenly put her hand over her mouth, wishing she hadn't said that. "Sorry. I should have kept my opinion to myself."

"No, it's okay." Colin said, understanding. "She hasn't said much about them at all. I know that grief is different for everyone, and I know a bit how she feels. My mother died when I was young too, and Dad only got married again two years ago, so I know how hard it is to have something happen like that. I was a bit younger than Josie is though."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Colin." Abigail said with sympathy.

"Its okay now, but it took a long time for me to heal, but going through that has helped me to understand what other people have gone through. But anyway, how did Josie get in a bear trap anyway?" Colin said to change the subject.

"She was out hunting, trying to find something to eat because she was starving. Someone set the trap without putting up a sign that it was there and she walked right on it. Her dog, Lassie, came here and led the Constable and I to her. Josie's been here since, but if you gave her a chance, she'd be straight back out there in a heartbeat, although she did realized she had to stay here because she's been quite sick."

"Why didn't she come to you and ask for help?"

"Josie is normally extremely shy with people she doesn't know, but I can see that she has taken a liking to you, which is good because she needs to start coming out of her shell, and I can see that slowly she is. I think it also was fear that stopped her from coming here. Fear of Mr. Gowan and fear that she'd get sent to an orphanage. As far as I know, she doesn't have anyone else that could come take care of her."

"What's going to happen to her then?"

"So many questions, Colin." Abigail laughed." The Constable has contacted the authorities so that I can be made her guardian and also so that I can take care of the legal side of things with her ranch until she reaches of age. But it depends on what the social worker says."

"Breakfast is ready." Josie said as she came back in and handed the tray to Abigail. "I made up pancakes."

"Thanks, Josie. They smell wonderful." Abigail replied as she dug in.

"You could have made some up for us instead of eggs on toast." Colin teased.

"Well, your not hurt. Abigail is, so she gets special treatment, and Abigail, I made up a few other things to, so you won't have to eat Elizabeth's cooking."

"Thanks, you've saved me from a week of indigestion. The first thing I'll be doing when I get up is give her a few cooking lessons." Abigail giggled. "I've never meet anyone who could make more things into charcoal that Elizabeth has."

Josie and Colin laughed. "I have to go into town today, Abigail. I think Elizabeth will be back by the time I have to leave." Josie said when she had finished her chuckle.

"What are you up to now?"

"Nothing." Josie replied, grinning like the cat that caught the canary.

"Josie." Abigail said sternly.

Josie knew by Abigail's face said without Abigail having to say another word. "Oh, all right. I have some business to attend to. All you need to worry about is getting back on your feet so you can make me those delicious biscuits of yours."

"So, you only want me for my cooking now?" Abigail teased back.

"Mmm, no. But those biscuits are an added bonus to you. Hey!" Josie yelped as she ducked the pillow Abigail chucked at her.

The three of them talked on until Elizabeth returned, carrying a huge armful of books. Colin got up and went over to help her.

"Thanks." Elizabeth said as he took them and placed them on the table. "I was about to drop them."

"What is all this?" Abigail asked as she looked at the books.

"Books, obviously. I brought them up for you to read while I'm downstairs marking papers."

Josie looked at the clock. "Colin, we really need to go get ready to go to town."

"I'll be down in a tick" He replied as Josie hurried down the stairs.

"Keep an eye on her, please. She can be rather headstrong sometimes." Abigail asked worriedly."

"Sure thing, Abigail."

"Thanks for everything, Colin. Getting us out, making friends with Josie and keeping an eye on her."

Colin nodded. "Your welcome Abigail, and I don't mind at all. I can see that Josie is a girl that needs some people to take an interest in her and I can see also that even though she jokes around a lot, she has a mountain of hurt and grief inside her."

"Your right, Colin. I can see it to, but I don't know what the best way to help her is." Abigail sighed. "But how could you see it?"

"I was like her at one time. It took a lot of patience and love on my father's part to help me get through it, but the best thing for Josie is for her to know that people do care about her and that when she needs to talk, they'll be there the help her."

When Colin came downstairs, Josie had already changed her skirt and shirt and was lacing up her boots. "I'll just go say goodbye to Abigail." She said as she got up and put her coat on.

"I'll go and get the horse ready." Colin replied as he grabbed his own coat.

"Great." Josie said as she went up to Abiagil's room.

Colin smiled to himself as he went out the door to the stable round the back. Already he could see so much of his sister in Josie, and he hoped that they would become good friends.


	26. Chapter 25 (More Plans)

Elizabeth and Abigail were talking when Josie came back into the room, dressed in her huge oilcoat and hat. "Bye Abigail. Don't you worry about me too much. If things go to plan, I might have to spend the night out at the ranch, but I'll see how it goes."

"Okay, but please, stay out of trouble." Abigail cautioned.

"You should know me enough be now to realize that I don't go looking for it, it just manages to jump up and surprise me. Bye Elizabeth." Josie said as she went back out the door again.

"She's a go getter that one." Elizabeth laughed.

Abigail agreed. "I think she's starting to get back to a normal kid again. I hope. By the way, did you meet the other McGregors?"

"I did."

"And?"

"And I think they'll be a great boost to Coal Valley. Matt and Kathleen are very nice and I might add that Rob, Luke and Jay aren't to hard on the eyes."

"Elizabeth!" Abigail chuckled.

"What?"

"I though you like Jack?"

"I've never said as much." Elizabeth said, her cheeks going red.

"Mmmm." Abigail left it at that. She knew she was right.

* * *

"You about ready?" Josie asked as she came into the little two horse stable.

"Yes." Colin replied, putting the saddle into place. "We'll have to ride double again."

"No we wont." Josie replied cheekily as she got a little whistle out of her pocket and blew into it, but it made no sound.

Colin decided to play along. "Well, unless your going to ride an invisible horse, you'll have to."

"No I wont, trust me."

"So mysterious Josie, what trick have you got up your sleave now?"

"You'll see." She replied as she grabbed the other tack off the shelf. "I'll meet you outside."

It wasn't long before Colin was ready and he led the horse out of the stable. He saw Josie sitting on the fence, the spare tack beside her. "Still waiting for the invisible horse, Josie?" He teased.

Josie shook her head, wasn't he going to get a shock. "Look behind you."

Colin turned and saw a huge black horse in full gallop coming towards them. The horse slid to a stop and reared, pawing the air with his front hooves and neighing, then he trotted up to Josie.

"See?" Josie giggled. "Some invisible horse." She watched at Thowra walked over to Colin and began to sniff him. "Hey, mister, what are you doing?"

"I think he likes me." Colin said as he began to pat the horse.

Josie was amazed. "Yes, he must really like you because he wont let most men get near him, let alone touch him. That horse has been called a rouge by everyone in this town. He killed two people before I found him hurt in the forest. He even tried to kill my father." Josie said, then under her breath. "and it was no surprise why."

"He's beautiful." Colin said as Thowra walked away from him and back to Josie, then he turned and whinnied at Colin. "I think he's telling me that you're a good person, he's a very good judge of character."

"Well, I'm glad to get your approval, Thowra. Josie, how did he know to come?"

"I'll show you in a second." Josie said as she finished tacking him up, then she mounted him. "This." She held up the whistle so Colin could see it. "Its made so that only animals can hear it. Come on Thowra, let's go." She said as she gently nudged him into a canter.

Colin spurred his horse one to catch up to Josie. "Okay, you win. You got me good. I've never seen anything like the way Thowra is with you."

"Good. But as for Thowra and me, you haven't seen nothing yet, but in time, you will." Josie replied, then she remained silent, locked in her own thoughts. As they rode to town though, she noticed that Colin was an exceptional rider, kind and gentle to his horse, but at the same time letting him know who was in charge.

When they got to the edge of town, Josie reined Thowra to a stop.

"What's wrong?" Colin asked, concerned."

"Just looking out for Mr. Gowan or his men. One thing Thowra and I have in common is that we both hate them. Looks like the coast is clear today though." Josie replied as she finished looking over the town.

"Hate is a very strong word." Colin gently reprimanded. "We shouldn't hate anyone."

Josie nodded. "I know, but there are things I know about them that you don't. You need to trust me on it. In time you'll learn, but until you know, its best to stay away from them, and hate does fit them." She motioned Thowra to go forward and the cantered to the saloon and got off their horses.

Colin and Josie both let their horses have a drink from the trough, then tied them to the rail and went to the door of the saloon, which Colin opened for Josie. When Josie got inside, she looked at the clock in the corner and was glad to see that she was right on time. Colin led her over to his family who were looking at a painting on the wall.

"Alright." He called out to silence their chatter. "I'll make the introductions short. Josie has something she would like to say that is important for all of us. Family, meet Josephine Blackwell. Josie, this is Kathleen, Matt, Rob, Danni, Michael, Emily, Josh, Annie, Luke, Jay and Jay's dog, Kinchie.

As Colin called out each of their names, they said hello to Josie, and they laughed when Kinchie barked after her name was said.

Josie giggled at Kinchie. "Good timing girl. It's a pleasure to meet you all." Josie said as she looked at them. ""Now, before we begin, is it okay if I call you all by your first names, it'll just make it easier so I don't get confused." She watched as they nodded their approval. "I think it might be best if we all take a seat." She said, motioning to the biggest table and she waited until they were all seated before she began. "Now, I have been thinking, and I've come up with a proposition for all you."

"We're listening." Matt said.

"Colin was telling me this morning that you gentlemen are looking for work." She watched as again they nodded. "Since both of my parents are no longer alive and I have no relatives, the ranch and my father's work are rightfully mine. But I can't do it by myself, I need help. I can offer you a place to live, board and a small wage in exchange for helping my run the place."

Matt nodded.

Josie continued. "It can be a two week trial basis. If you guys feel that it won't work out, I won't hold it against you and you're free to leave and I'll get Abigail to give you good references." She finished and let Matt think it over.

"What do you say, folks?" Matt asked. "All in favour of accepting Josie's offer, raise your right hand." He watched with pride as each McGregor put up their hand, even Josh helped Annie hold her hand up to agree.

Josie smiled when she saw Josh and Annie. He reminded her of Ben, but this was no time to be sentimental and start to get teary, there was work to be done. "Great!"

"Just one think, Josie." Kathleen asked. "Will the house be big enough for all of us?"

"Yes, it should. When you see it, you'll see that it is." Josie replied. "Any more questions?"

Josh put his hand up. "I have one." He continued. "Do I have to be in a room with Rob, because he snores really loud and when he does, I cant sleep."

Josie laughed. "I'll see what I can do about that Josh, but I'm sure we'll come to some arrangement."

Rob spoke up next. "I don't mean to be rude, but do you know what your doing? You're a girl and you don't seem old enough to have too much experience. Running a ranch is no childs play you know."

Josie turned and looked him in the eyes. "There is very little I can do about my gender, Rob. Yes, I do know what I'm doing. I've been on that place since I was five and also, I'd thank you not to judge me on my age, and as for how old I am, you'll find out in time. As for my experience, I've watched my father run the place and I have a pretty good idea of what should be done. All you need to worry about is to follow orders, and if they go wrong, the only person to blame is me. Does that answer that question?"

"Yes." Rob replied, quite surprised at what this girl was turning out to be.

"Josie, I have one quick question." Matt asked."

"Yes, Matt?"

"What will we be working with, and how big is your ranch?"

"I have about fifty good breeding stock horses, and probably about fifty more that spend most of their time up on the plains running free until I need them. I also have about a thousand head of cattle, a mix of heraford and longhorn, they also run up in the mountains for most of the year. I have some land for growing crops to feed the stock, the land that was actually owned by my father is about two thousand acers, but I have government leases on another four thousand acres to run the stock on. I realize that it is quite big but the grazing can get sparse sometimes. And I want to add that you don't want to get lost in it either, so the first thing we'll do when you settled is go around and I can show you all the trails and everything so that you wont get lost. I hope it sums it up for you Matt." Josie said.

"Yep, oh one thing, we don't have any horses."

"I'll assign you each horses later today. Does anyone else have any questions?" She waited for a few moment, but no one said anything. "Alright, then we should go and get you guys settled." She was about to say more when she heard Thowra neighing quite urgently. "I wonder what's wrong with him.." She said as she quickly went outside, the McGregors following her.

Thowra was snorting and he had untied himself for the post and as was about to bolt away when Josie grabbed his reins. "Whoa, whoa, easy boy, easy." She soothed as he reared up, then he stopped and stood quivering with fear. "Easy boy, steady." She looked at where Thowra had his ears pointed and saw what had startled him. The Pinkertons and Gowan had returned to the office and were staring at them, then Spurlock began to walk over to Josie and her horse. "What are you doing with that insane animal in town?" He yelled loudly.

Thowra reared again, pulling Josie with him across the street, trying to get free to attack the men that had abused him. Josie saw Spurlock walking towards them as Thowra began to wheel around and kick out. "Get back, you idiot!" Josie yelled back to him as she desperately tried to keep hold of the stallion's reins. "I won't be held responsible for your own stupidity if this horse breaks his bridle."

Spurlock kept walking closer, now laughing. "I'd never thought I'd see the day when a girl tried to control that pathetic excuse of a horse you have there, I'll show you how to control that horse." He said as he picked up a rather big stick.

Thowra had had enough, this man was getting way to close to him now and the horse saw with anger that he intended to beat him again. With one more swift movement, he yanked the reins out of Josie's hands and began to charge towards the man, clearly showing his hatred for him as he galloped closer.

Spurlock seemed to be frozen in time as the horse charged down on him. He swung the stick out, hoping that it would scare the horse off, but Thowra knocked him down and grabbed the stick out of his hand, snorting and pawing the ground viciously. Spurlock began to crawl backwards away from the stallion, then he got to his feet and made a run for it.

Thowra chased after him, catching in up to him in three strides. He contemplated knocking him down again, and trampling him, but they were almost to the mining office now. Spurlock ran up the stairs and threw open the door, but he wasn't fast enough to prevent Thowra from taking a nice big bite on his buttocks. He closed the door just as Thowra leapt up the stairs and crashed into the door, shaking the entire building.

Thowra stood snorting and pacing in place, then he reared and giving a triumphant whinny, raced back across the street to Josie. He slid to a stop in front of the girl and made another, excited whinny.

Josie began to laugh. "Oh, the face that he made when you charged him was priceless, boy. He deserved what he got from you, and I don't think that the bite you gave him will be forgotten in a hurry." She grabbed the reins again and led him back to the McGregor's. "Sorry for that bit of bad behaviour from him. Spurlock was one of Thowra's grooms when Mr. Gowan owned him, and I think that Thowra might just have gave him a little bit of what he had received. It might be best if I keep him away from town for a bit though..." She was about to say more when Jack walked over to them.

"Nice display you made, mister." Jack said as he gave the horse a pat on the shoulder. He saw that had Josie went red. "Spurlock deserved that. Anyway that's not why I came over. Four of your horses got stolen last week, Josie. But thanks to the McGregor boys, their now waiting to go home over at the livery."

"Stolen? By who?"

"The Hankshaw gang. They were attempting to rob the stage coach that these folks here were on, but unluckily for them, only one of them lived through it, and he's waiting in the jail until he gets transferred to stand trial at Calagry. The horses are fine, so you can take them back to your ranch now."

"Thanks for letting me know, Constable."

"That's okay Josie, by the way, how's Abigail?"

"She's fine, Elizabeth's there at the moment. Thanks for telegraphing the doctor for us."

"Your welcome Josie." Jack replied.


	27. Chapter 26 (New Places)

**Chapter 26**

"We're here to pick up Josie's horses." Matt told Mr. Custer a little while later. "She's asked us to collect them for her, and we'll also need to hire another two horses and a team and wagon. How much will that cost for the day?"

Mr. Custer added it up. "About five dollars, but you'll have to tack up the horses your selves. My stable hand is having his day off."

"Certainly."

"Follow me." Mr. Custer led them over to the small holding paddock next to the stable. He pointed out the horses to them. "That bay, the chestnut and the two greys are Josie's horses. You can hire the two sorrels for riding and the two blacks are the wagon team. I'll just go get their lead ropes." He soon returned and they caught the horses they would be using.

As Luke saddled up the mare he had chosen, Mr. Custer walked over to him. "We haven't meet yet. I'm George Custer and you must be the Gunsmith."

"Pleasure to meet you." Luke replied as he shook the man's hand. "But I'm not the Gunsmith. If you want to meet him, you'd be wanting my brother, Jay. He's over there." He motioned towards the man harnessing up the driving team."

"Sorry to have mistaken you, Luke. You two look alike."

"Yes we do. After all we are brothers."

Mr. Custer excused himself and walked over to Jay. "Gunsmith?"

Jay turned around. "Who wants to know?"

"I'm Mr. Custer, the owner of the livery stables. It's an honour to have your character in town."

Jay sighed. "Trust me, no houner is going to come from it."

"But your famous." George insisted.

"Yes, by authors making up stories to try and sell books." Jay led the team to the wagon and hitched them up.

"You know, my cousin told me he saw you kill a man in Denver."

"I've never been to Denver."

"Oh."

"I heard that Kid Cole shot someone there, maybe he got him confused with me." Jay turned and looked at the rest of his family, trying to get out of this awkward conversation. "You guys about ready?"

"Almost." Rob replied as he did the girth up on one of the sorrels. "Done now."

"Alright, I'll meet up with the rest of your guys out the front of the saloon." Jay replied as he got up into the drivers seat of the wagon. "Nice chatting with you, Mr. Custer."

* * *

By the time the McGregor's had lead the horses around to the saloon, the ladies had the wagon packed with their bags and were waiting for them to arrive.

Kathleen walked over to Matt. "The Constable's been giving us a hand to get everything packed."

Matt waved to Jack. "Thanks for giving them a hand."

"Your welcome." Jack said as he walked over to him. "I heard from Josie that you guys are going to be working out at her ranch."

"Yes. Josie has offered us a place to stay in exchange for working for her. She's a really mature girl for her age."

"I hope it works out for all of you. Josie has her heart and soul out at that ranch. She's a wonderful horsewoman and she has a way with her animals."

"Yes, she does." Matt said as he watched Josie patting her stallion. "I can see that she certainly does love her animals.

Jack nodded his head, aggreging with what Matt had said, then he remembered the reason why he had wanted to speak to him. "I just thought I should let you know that the freightwagon should be arriving at around two this afternoon. Danni was saying that your expecting some things to arrive."

"Yes, hopefully some of our things will be on it." Matt said as he helped Kathleen into the wagon.

"Well," Jack patted the wagon horse. "If you need any more help, you know who to ask."

"Thanks, Constable." Matt replied as his horse. "Right, are we ready to go?" He asked as he watched the others mount their horses and some get into the wagon.

Josie nodded as she mounted her stallion, then waited until the others were ready, then she moved to the front of the line and prepared to lead them to her ranch.

As Josh looked at the loaded wagon, trying to find a spot to sit, he realized that he wasn't going to fit. "Where am I going to sit?"

Colin laughed as he saw Josh's predicament. "I though you might like to ride with me." He said as he moved his over to the wagon so that Josh could slide on.

"You bet!" Josh replied as he hopped on the horse in front of Colin.

"Ready Josh?"

"Yep Pa."

"Alright, you can lead on now, Josie." Matt said as he saw the others were ready. Josie nodded and nudged Thowra into a canter down the road, checking to make sure that they were all there, and that no one lagged behind.

* * *

As soon as they left the town, they came onto a well-used trail leading into the forest. The leaves were all dead, as it was winter, and the air was crisp and clean. The ground had a thin layer of snow on it from the previous night's snowfall and it gave the landscape quite a pretty look.

Colin moved his horse up in the line so that he could talk to Josie, but Josh had other ideas. "What type of tree is that Josie?"

"That's an oak tree, Josh. In spring the leaves will come back, and it also will have little acorns grow on it. The squirrels will take the acorns and bury them for the winter to eat. Woodpeckers are also like the acorns and they store them in holes in the trees to eat when they can't find other food."

"What's a woodpecker?"

"A woodpecker is a type of bird that uses its beak to drill holes in the trunks of trees to get to the bugs that live inside, and then they eat them."

"How do they do that?" Josh persisted.

"Come on Josh, don't be annoying." Emily called out from the wagon at the back.

"Oh, its fine Emily, I don't mind. When they come back here in the spring, I'll show you, Josh." Josie saw that Josh seemed to be happy with her answer and silence fell on the group.

After about twenty minutes, Matt felt that his horse had gone lame. "Woah, woah." He said as he dismounted.

Rob rode up beside him. "What's wrong?"

Matt picked up the horse's front hoof and found the problem. "He's got a stone wedged in it, and I don't have anything to get it out with."

"I have a hoof pick." Josie said as she rode back to Matt and handed him is pocket knife. "I use this end to get the stones out."

"Thanks Josie." Matt said as he gently removed the rock, then he put the horse's leg back down and handed the pick back to Josie.

Josie again moved her horse up to the front of the little procession and led them on until they retched the edge of the forest. As they looked down, they saw the rolling green hills, which were covered in a beautiful layer of snow and the horses playing in the paddocks. They saw the barns, other building and the house, and realized just how big this ranch was.

Josie looked down on it in pride. "I'm going ahead, yah!" She gave Thowra a kick, and her stallion quickly galloped full steam ahead down the slope, sending the snow flying from his hooves. She galloped him up another rise and pulled him to a stop, then made him rear twice and galloped off again towards the house.

"Has she gone crazy Dad?" Josh asked quizzically.

"No, Josh, I think she's just happy to be home, Josh, and I could tell that she wanted to let her horse blow off some steam." Colin gave a little chuckle as he watched Josie and Thorwa race off again down another slope. "Her horse is really quite something too. He's probably the fastest horse around here for a hundred miles."

"Wow!" Josh was impressed. "I'd love to have a horse like that."

"You might one day." Colin encouraged. "But for the moment you can stick to riding with me, or a pony. A horse like that is miles too big for you yet."

* * *

When the McGregors slowed to a stop in front of the house, they were again amazed at its size. The house was built in the style of a log cabin, but it looked like it had a little bit of a second story with the two windows that looked out over the property. The house had a veranda going around the entire perimeter, and a few rose bushes were growing over the handrails. It also had four chimney's peeking over the top of the roof.

"I can see what you mean about this place being huge." Kathleen said as she got out of the wagon. "It's beautiful."

"Yes, it is." Josie agreed. "My father brought this place after the owner passed on. His sons couldn't decide who would get the land, so they decided to sell it and spit the money between them. The man was quite wealthy, but he also had a lot of enemy's, so he built this place here to hide away from people who wanted to find him. Its got a lot of little secret places hidden throughout it and it has three basements, so its massive."

"Just a little question, who's chopping the wood to run four fireplaces?" Rob asked as he figured out how much would it would take.

Josie smirked cheekily. "You won't need to worry about that this year, we have more than enough wood to last out the remainder of the winter. Mostly my father and I collected the wood, so you'll probably end up with the job." She laughed. "You don't seem so happy about that." She said as she un-tacked her stallion. "Off you go, boy." She motioned him on with her hand.

Thowra whinnied, stamped the ground, and wheeled around, bucking playfully. He jumped the fence into one of the paddocks and cantered over to a white-grey mare, who decided that she wanted to play too and began to gallop off, Thowra hot on her tail.

Josie laughed at her horse's antics, then turned to the McGregor's. "You can go tie the horses up over there." She pointed to the coral fence. "After you've done that, I'll take you all on a tour of the house."

The riders dismounted and led the horses to the fence, but it was Danni who came back first. "Wow, this place is so big!" Danni exclaimed, looking at the paddocks that went over the hills and out of sight.

"Yes." Josie sighed. "Its home, but for the last six months, I've hardly been here." She was going to say more when the rest of the McGregor's returned. "Let's go inside then, shall we?" She opened the door and lead the way in.

As they went into the sitting room, Emily noticed the piano standing against the wall. "Wow." She gasped. "Its beautiful. Do you play it, Josie?"

"Sometimes, when I'm not out on the ranges. I don't have much time for anything other that looking after my horses, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Feel free to use it anytime you like. This is your house to now, and that goes for all of you." She nodded at the other McGregor's. "Although I would appreciate if you ask first before you use anything. Some things I don't want moved."

"If you don't have time for much else," Jay started. "What do you do about school?"

Josie rolled her eyes. "I love that everyone is so worried about my education, but I've finished school. Miss Thatcher gave me the end-of-school test about two weeks ago, so I don't need to go anymore, but she's happy for me to drop in anytime and join the class."

"Dad, can I do that?" Josh asked, hoping to get out of schoolwork.

"No." Colin picked Josh up. "You, young man are going to go to school until your fifteen."

"Alright, lets move on now." Josie led them through the rest of the house, then, when she got to her brother's room, she paused for a moment before opening the door. She hadn't been in there for nearly a year, but she told herself to remain composed. "Now, Josh, if I remember right, you wanted a room away from Rob, so you and Michal will have to share this one. I hope that fine with you, Michal?"

"Suites me." Michal said as he looked at the room. "Back in Australia, I ended up having to share a room with Rob, Colin and Josh. That was a nightmare." He nudged Rob and Colin with his elbow. "It will be a pleasant change not to have to share with them."

"You boys could go and grab you bags and get settled in while I show the others around."

Josh and Michal raced back down the hall way and went outside to grab their bags, planning on getting them, then go exploring.

Josie turned to Danni. "Being a girl, I know that you would like peace and quiet away from the boys, so you can have a room by yourself." She opened up the door into a small guest room. "It's a bit small, but I'll think you'll like it. Colin, Emily and Annie can have the larger guest room on the opposite side. Matt and Kathleen, I'll take you to the master bedroom in a minute. Jay and Luke, you can have the other log cabin that we used when we had hired help."

"And where will I go?" Rob asked, a little concerned.

"I think there's still room in the chicken coop."

"Very funny, Josie."

"No." She pointed to another door. "You're in there."

"Right, come on Danni, I'll give you a hand with your bags." Rob and Danni walked out the same direction that Michal and Josh had taken earlier.

After Josie had shown Emily and Colin to their rooms, she led Matt and Kathleen to the master bedroom across the house. While she was waiting inside for them to catch up, she saw a photo of her parents and picked it up. She looked at it for a moment, then put it into her pockets as Matt and Kathleen entered. "Ma stored most of their things in the basement, but I'll move the rest of their things down there while you grab your bags."

"Alright, sounds good Josie, we'll be back soon." Matt said as he and Kathleen left the room.

* * *

When Josie was alone, she opened up the wardrobe, and tenderly touched her mother's favourite dress. "I wish you were still here, Ma." She whispered, then she took the dress down and placed it on the bed. She grabbed the other clothes, then took them down to the basement and placed them in the cupboard down there. As she came back up, she remembered her father's pistols and grabbed out the box from under the bed and placed it with the dress, so she could take them to her own room.

She quickly removed the other belongings of her parents and put them down into the basement, then she heard Matt and Kathleen return. Kathleen saw the dress on the bed. "That's so pretty." She said as she admired it.

Josie nodded. "It was Ma's favourite ball gown." She agreed as she looked at the dress. It was a beautiful emerald green, with exquisite beading and sequins, the skirt was full and ankle length and it showed just how much money her parents had. "I'm going to store it in my room. I would love to wear it one day. Ma looked so beautiful it it."

"I bet she did." Kathleen agreed.

"I need to go and show Luke and Jay to their quarters, so if you'll excuse me, I'll see you later." Josie said as she picked up the dress and the box containing her father's guns.

She put the dress up into her room and when she went back downstairs, still carrying the box, she saw Jay carrying a bag for Emily. "Jay, pssst." She whispered, hiding around a corner. Jay turned and saw her motioning him to follow her. He put the bags he was carrying down and followed her to the staircase leading up to her bedroom.

"What's up there?" He asked, pointing to the door.

"My rooms, but that's not what I want to show you." Josie carefully began to move one of the boards covering the space between the floor and the staircase, and it opened into another room.

Jay was amazed. "This place sure has a lot of rooms, and secret ones at that too."

"Yep." Josie agreed as she lit the lamp that was inside and turned it up, the light filling the small space. Inside was the secret room where her father stored the rest of his guns and ammunition.

Jay walked over to one of the walls and looked at the rifles that were hanging on the racks. "Why are you showing me all this, Josie?"

"You're the Gunsmith, right?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"My father knew you. He lost a game of poker to you back in Colorado. He never could live that down, but he always spoke of you with respect and esteem."

"I thought his name seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it. He worked for Edward Cawley, didn't he?"

"Oh, I don't know. I was too little to remember, but he told me the stories about you when I was older. I was hoping maybe you could do a few things with my guns."

"Like what?"

"These first." Josie placed the wooden box she had been holding onto the table and opened it. "I've heard that you can change these to double action." She handed him one of the two pistols.

"Yes, I can." Jay looked at the gun carefully. It was a colt .45 "Peacemaker" with ivory grips and elaborate engraving all over the barrel of it. "Where did your father get these?"

"I'm not sure, why?"

"There's only about twenty-five sets of these made in this pattern, so they are quite valuable."

"Well, I don't care about the value, I just really like the art on them."

Jay nodded, then handed the pistol back to her. "You want me to just do these two?"

"No, I was hoping you could do all my guns, starting with the pistols of course. My rifles all need a service and while your taking them apart, maybe you could make some adjustments so that they don't jam?"

"I can do that, now, about payment. I've got some money coming in, so instead of paying me, can we do a trade? Your guns get serviced in exchange for say, seven horses?"

"Seven horses is a bit too steep." Josie said, trying to remember what her father had taught her about bartering. "I can do three."

Jay was surprised. This girl could hold her own no trouble at all. "Five mares and a stallion."

"Five. Four mares and a stallion. That's my final offer." Josie said decisively.

"Deal." Jay and Josie shook hands. "What else do you want done with them?"

"Oh, you can engrave the ranch name into the stocks when I decide what to call this place. Other than that I think that's it."

"So, its just the guns here in this room?" Jay asked, realizing he should have asked that in the first place.

"No." Josie quickly mentally calculated. "There's about ten rifles and ten pistols in here and another twenty in the barn, so that will keep you busy for a while. When can you start work on them?"

"Hopefully my stuff arrives today, so sometime next week would be good."

"If you'll excuse me, I need to go upstairs for a moment." Josie said as she left the little closet. "Feel free to have a closer look at my guns while you wait."

Jay had a good look around the room, enjoying seeing so many different styles of the guns. Josie had engraved rifles, a couple of limited edition double-barrel shot guns, and a nice collection of Colt .45's. He was about to pick up one gun that caught his eye when Josie came back.

"Right, I'm ready now. Are you don looking?"

"Just a minute Josie." Jay walked over to her. "Do you know where your father got this?" He showed her a hand gun that had "Dan Lewis" stamped on the side.

"No, sorry. Pa was quite a collector of guns, so its possible it belonged to someone famous, although I don't know of any with that name. Anyway, we should go and see how the rest of your family is getting on with settling in." Josie said, waiting for Jay to leave the closet so she could close the door.

As Jay came out, he noticed that Josie had changed her outfit, and was now wearing a pistol on her hip and spurs. "What's the gun for?"

"There's a lot of wild animals around here." Josie said as she closed up the hidey-hole. "Of the two and four-legged variety. I heard that a couple of horses where stolen a few ranches over, so its best to be prepared for anything. You don't want to be in a situation where you need a gun and don't have one."

Jay looked to see how she had it tied down, but he couldn't figure it out. "How do you keep it from flipping up when you draw it?"

"Here, I'll show you." Josie quickly drew her gun, but still Jay couldn't figure it out. "Unlike you gentlemen, I wear a skirt. I have it tied down around my leg, just like yours, but I fixed my skirt to have a little hole in the seam for the latigo to go through. Fooled you for a bit, didn't it?"

"You had me good and proper." Jay admitted. "Quite a good idea too, I might add."

"Yes, it is." Josie was cut off by the sound of a blood-curling scream outside. She looked at Jay, and then took off towards the door with him right behind her.

She saw Emily standing in the wagon, holding a stick and looking extremely frightened.

"Emily, whats wrong?" Colin asked as he hurried out through the door after them.

"Th th that." She pointed down and he saw a huge mountain lion circling the wagon, baring its teeth now and again and growling low in its throat.

Josh hid behind Colin. "Is it going to eat Ma?" he asked, eyes wide with fright.

"Not if I can help it." Jay lined up his gun to make a shot, hoping to kill the mountain lion with one bullet, but Josie stopped him.

"That's my pet!" She said as she yanked the gun out of his hand like her father had taught her. "She's not going to eat Emily." Josie looked at the McGregor's, and they looked suspiciously at her, wondering if she'd gone mad. "Cougar, come!" Josie said to make a point.

Cougar immediately stopped circling Emily and ran up the steeps to Josie, rubbing against her and purring like a house cat. "How have you been hey?" Josie asked as she knelt down to give her lion a hug. "Did you give Emily a fright?"

Cougar nuzzled her head under Josie's arm and purred louder….


	28. Chapter 27 (Greetings)

**Chapter 27**

 **So, this chapter will be the second last one in this particular story... Its quite sad that this chapter of Josie and the citizens of Coal/Hope valley is coming to a close for the moment with this story line, but hopefully i'll be able to continue it on as soon as possible... In the meantime i'll be working on my other story, Holiday Hopes.**

 **If you've enjoyed my story, please drop me a PM or review. I really could use some encouragement to motivate me to get more done! If no one reviews, I don't know if i've done a good job or not!**

 **Thanks in advance, and enjoy chapter 27!**

* * *

The McGregor's looked at Josie with amazement as she patted her "unusual" pet.

"Josie," Matt began. "Is it really safe to have a pet like that here? What if she turns on you or any of us?"

"Cougar wouldn't do that, would you girl?" Cougars answer was to playfully headbutt Josie in the stomach. "She's fine and she's this rancher's security system. No one messes with Cougar, but she knows who to protect, and she's seen that I've accepted you guys here, so now she'll protect you as well, knowing that I expect it of her. And another thing, Cougar won't eat meat of any sort. She's really weird because like if she did, of course she couldn't be here because I wouldn't have any livestock left."

"And you trust her the way she was just acting?" Emily asked as she went over to the rest of her family.

"Cougar was only showing you who's boss. She does it to anyone who comes here until she figures out that they belong here." Josie finished explaining as Cougar began to miaow.

"Can I pet her?" Josh asked as he came out of his hiding place.

"Sure, I don't mind." Josie replied. "Its better if she got to know you sooner anyway. Come over here behind me and rub behind her ears. She really loves that."

"Okay." Josh said, still not a hundred percent sure of this big cat, but then as he rubbed her, she began to purr. "I think she likes me."

"I think she does too Josh." Josie agreed.

"Any other wild pets we should know about, so I don't shoot them?" Jay asked.

"Only Wolf. As the name suggests he's a full-blooded wolf, so he and Kinchie will get on great together. I do have a couple of other pets. Princess is my house cat and Lassie is my other dog. She's a collie, like the ones that are in Scotland. I'm not sure where they are though." Josie said as she looked around, then she put her fingers to her lips and gave a sharp whistle.

"I didn't know ladies could whistle." Danni said, surprised.

"And you wont either." Matt exclaimed. "No girl of mine is going to whistle."

"I agree." Josie butted in. "But I think its more lady like than yelling at the top of your lungs for your dogs. Here they are." She added as Wolf and Lassie came racing around the barn and over to Josie. "Hey, you two." She gave them both a pat, then stood up. "Right, are we ready for the rest of the tour?"

* * *

Josie showed the family around the entire place, saving the best for last. Then, as the tour came to its end, she stopped at a fence and swung up over it, wolf clearing it easily beside her. She looked over the pasture, then made a longer, higher whistle than she had before.

Josh looked around sceptically. "There's nothing here."

"Just wait for it, they'll come in a minute." Josie replied, her ears catching the faint sounds of the hoofbeats way before anyone else could. "Here they are."

Thowra was at the head of the herd, leading the way at a fast gallop. He began to slow as they got closer and the herd followed suite. Josie sent Wolf out to meet them, then opened the gates for the holding yard. "Herd them in, Thowra. Bring them round, Wolf." Josie yelled encouragement. "Steady, not to fast Wolf." She called as he tried to move a foal too fast. Soon, with the help of Wolf and Thowra, the entire herd was corralled, and Josie motioned for the McGregor's to come to the fence.

"Right, since you are all going to be working for me, your going to need horses. Each of you can pick two. They'll be your main riding horses for as long as you decide to stay. Jay and I have another arrangement, so he'll pick out his horses first. As each of you pick your horse, I'll move them into the smaller yard and you can go catch them and get acquainted. Jay, you can start."

Jay looked over the herd of horses with a keen eye. There was so many beautiful ones to choose from, but he soon made his decision. "I'll take that tall bay at the back, the buckskin, that brown one, the bay frame overo paint and that black one." He pointed in turn to the horses he had picked.

"Alright." Josie motion for her dog, then showed him which one she wanted out of the bunch. When Wolf had the horse close enough to the other gat leading into the separate yard, Josie would open it, then send him back for the next one. When his five were yarded, Josie walked back over to them.

"Ladies first, so Danni, have your pick." She said as she climbed up on the fence and sat down.

Danni had a careful look." What's the brown pony like?" She pointed him out to Josie.

"That's Bongo. He's a five-year-old gelding and he has a quite temperament, but he is quite fast too when you need him to be."

Danni nodded. "I'll take him and that grey mare. She's got a good conformation."

"Okay." Josie quickly added them to the bunch in the other yard. "Now, do you and Emily ride?" She asked Kathleen.

"We do," Kathleen replied. "but we prefer taking a buggy or wagon when we can. I'm not too good a rider yet, I'm afraid."

"That's okay, it takes time." Josie pointed out the two Morgens. "They're the driving team. Both can be driven single or double and they can both be ridden as well. They're quiet too, which you'll want if you don't feel confident riding."

* * *

It didn't take much longer for the rest of the McGregor's to choose their horses, so when they had taken the ones they wanted out of the bunch, Josie turned the rest back out into the pasture. She kept Thowra back, knowing that she was going to go riding again soon. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you where the tack room is, and you can get your horses tacked up and go back into town to meet the freight wagon. You can return the horses you hired as well then." She said as she led the way to the big stable.

"Josie?" Josh said as he ran to catch up to her.

"Yes, Josh?"

"I didn't get to pick a horse?"

"Oh, Josh, you can't have one out of that bunch, their too big and wild for you yet. The pony I have in mind for you is on a different part of the property. We'll ride out and get her when everyone else is sorted out. Is that okay?"

"Suppose so." Josh said as he kicked a rock. "How long will that take?"

"Not long, Josh." Josie replied as she opened the door to the stable. "There's room for thirty horses in here, but I don't keep that many in at a time, if I did, I'd be spending all my day mucking out stalls. Feed is stored in that room, and in the loft and the tack room is this one." She unlocked the door and a huge selection of tack meet their gaze.

"Cool, I've never seen so many saddles." Michal exclaimed with excitement.

"When dad brought the place, everything came with it. Stock, equipment, and tack." Josie explained. "Find something that you'll think fits your horses. I'll go hitch up the team." She grabbed a rifle and two pairs of harnesses and went out the door.

"Look, Colin. She's even got guns." Josh exclaimed as he went to pick one up.

"Don't you pick that up. Guns are not toys young man." Emily reprimanded.

"Your mother's right." Colin agreed. "Guns are not toys, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good boy. Guns are dangerous, and they need to be treated with respect. If I find you playing with them, I'll have to get Mr. PowPow out and you know what that means."

"Yes sir."

"Alright, how about you go look at something else?" Colin encouraged. "Look, there's an English saddle."

"Yes." Rob butted in. "Josie has every type of saddle imaginable, but she doesn't have an Australian stock saddle."

"She does have a side-saddle though." Danni said, admiring the shining black leather.

"I can't ride that."

"I'm sure you could. Would you like me to lend you a skirt?" She teased.

Rob picked up a handful of hay off the floor and threw it at her. "Very funny. Danni."

"Come on you two, pick your tack and let's get going." Matt said as he headed out.

* * *

By the time that the McGregors had chosen their tack, Josie had already harnessed both teams and was taking them to the carriage house to hitch them up. "Found your tack, Danni?" She asked as she passed her.

"Yes." Danni followed her. "You have a very nice side-saddle."

"It was my mothers." Josie said as she backed up one team to their wagon. "Danni, can you hold these two for a moment?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." She handed her the reins. "Do you ride side-saddle?"

"No, but a lady back home did. I was planning on riding the white mare. Is there anything I should know about her?"

"If you'll give me a minute, I'll come help you with her. She can be tricky sometimes. I've just got to hitch up these tow to the spring wagon and then I'll be with you."

"Alright." Danni handed her back the reins. "I'll meet you over there."

It didn't take long for Josie to finish her task and drive the two teams around to the front of the house, then she went and caught the mare for Danni. "Her name is Snowflake."

"Hi, Snowflake." Danni gave the mare a pat on the nose.

"Snowflake was only broken in last year, so be carful with her. And she kicks." Josie added as she dodged a flying hoof while she tried to do up the girth.

"I've never ridden in a saddle like this before." Danni said as she mounted. "It's quite weird."

"You'll get used to it. It's a western saddle. They're better for the work I do around here, and if your horse gets a little jumpy, you have the horn to hold onto. Right, who's going to town?"

"Emily, Danni and I were planning on going to town to get supplies for the kitchen." Kathleen started. "But someone will need to stay and watch Annie while we're gone."

I'll do it." Colin volunteered.

"Alright, and I take it you boys are all going?" Josie watched them nod. "I'll need someone to drive the spring wagon."

"I can do that." Emily said as she came over. "Annie's down for her nap, Colin and she's had her feed and been changed."

"Have you got a list of what you need?" Matt asked.

"Yes." Kathleen replied.

"You'll need money." Josie said as she pulled out a stack of bills from her pocket. "Don't worry about it, use it up. I don't mind if do, it will be pleasant to have food in the cupboards for a change. Since Colin is going to stay with Annie, who wants to come hunting with me?"

Rob nodded. "I will, but um, can you shoot though? I mean can you hit something smaller than a barn door at six paces?"

Josie caught onto his sass and decided to play along. She saw a pine cone hanging on a limb about a hundred feet away. "Block your ears. Rob, see that pine cone on that branch?" She lifted her rifle, took aim and fired. "See it no more." She added as she saw the bullet hit its mark.

Rob was impressed. "Right, I believe you."

"Shall we go to town now after that little show?" Matt asked as he got into one of the wagons. The other's followed his lead and either mounted or hopped into the wagons and they left, taking the borrowed horses with them.

Josie, Colin, Josh and Rob waved them off, then Colin began to untack the chestnut mare he'd ridden on to get there.

Josie noticed and whistled for Thowra. "Don't untack her yet, Colin. We need to go get Josh's horse first. I promised him I would after we got you guys sorted.

Josh got quite excited. "Yay!"

Colin agreed. "That's fine with me."

"I'll just get Thowra his bridle." Josie said as she quickly ran to the porch. When she got back, Thowra had beaten her and was receiving pats from Josh. Josie giggled at the look in Thowra's eyes, which plainly said "SAVE ME FROM THIS KID!"

"Who are you going to ride with, Josh?" Colin asked.

"Can I ride with Josie?"

"Can he?"

"Sure." Josie replied as she put the bridle on Thowra. "I don't mind." She vaulted onto Thowra's back, the Colin put Josh on behind her. "Hold on tight, Josh." She gave Thowra a nudge, and he went into a swift canter.

"Can we go faster?" Josh asked with excitement.

"As long as you hold on. Yah." Josie gave a little kick with her spurs and Thowra stretched out it to a medium gallop, leaving Rob and Colin far behind. As she saw the fence to the pasture coming into view, she began to slow her horse down, first into a bouncy canter, then finally a walk and a halt at the gate.

"Josie, wow! He was fast!" Josh said as she helped him climb down.

"Yes, Josh, that was quite fast, but that's still not his top speed. When he's really galloping, your eyes fill with tears from the wind, and the ground is just a blur. He's something special." She added as she gave him a pat, then tied his reins around the fence and opened the gate. "Have you got the halter I asked you to hold?"

"Yep." He said, trying to hand it to her.

"No, you keep it, Josh. If your going to take care of this pony, you might aswell start by catching her. There she is." She pointed to a little grove of trees in the distance. Then she made a sharp whistle and the pony galloped up the hill towards them.

The pony stopped a little ways away from them, and had a good look, before the gave a shake of her head and trotted he rest of the way to them.

"This is Girlie. Go say hello Josh. Let her sniff your hand first, and then wait and see what she does."

"Alright." Josh slowly walked over to the palomino pony and gave her his hand to sniff. Girlie blew softly into his hand, then rubbed his face with her muzzle, making Josh laugh.

"Okay, put the halter on her now, Josh. Slowly."

As Josh put the halter on her, the pony began to nibble his hair. "I think she likes me. Hey, quite that." He led her to the gate and waited for Josie to open it up.

"Can I ride her back?" Josh asked as he led her through.

"Have you ridden bareback before?" Josie asked as she made sure the gate was latched properly. The she untied Thowra from the fence and vaulted onto him. She heard hoofbeats approaching and turned Thowra around to see who it was. Rob and Colin rode up to her. "Where have you to been? Out for lunch?"

"We took a wrong turn." Rob replied, a little embarrassed.

"Mmm, I'll believe you this time." Josie said, unconvinced. "Sorry, Josh, yes you can ride her back."

"Goody." Josh led the pony over to a dead tree stump, stepped on it and mounted Girlie. "Easy, girl, steady." He said as he got used to the feel of her. He rode her around in a couple of little circles, then cantered her back to Josie, Colin and Rob. "I'm ready now."

"Alright, you can lead the way back Josh." Josie said as she gently stopped Thowra from running off back home.

Josh nudged Girlie into a canter and proudly led the way back to the ranch, concentrating quite hard on his riding skills, and getting used to his new pony.

"You have a nice place here, Josie." Colin said as he admired the landscape. Tall trees dotted the mountain sides, and snow capped their peaks, with livestock grazing in front of the lovely background.

Josie nodded, agreeing. "Yes. Its home. My father brought it when I was five and we moved here from Hamilton, but originally my parents came from America. This place is a home for all of you now, until you decide if you guys want to move on, but this place will always be open to you."


	29. Chapter 28 (A New Day)

**Chapter 28**

 **So, this will be my last chapter of this story.. It wont end here though, I will continue the series, picking up a few days after where this one ends.. In the mean time, check out Holiday Hopes!**

 **I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. As always, drop me a review please! I've had over 9,000 views, and only 33 reviews... Please send them in! It only takes a few minutes, and it means a lot to me!**

 **Thankyou to all who have left me a review, its greatly appreciated, and thank you Susie Thornton for your continued support, and to my friend, Mic. You know who you are lol.**

* * *

It was just a bit after dark when the family sat down to eat. When Josh saw what was being served, he squealed with delight. "Fried chicken, my favourite." He said as he sat down and went to grab a bite out of his piece.

"Manners, Josh. Wait until the blessing has been said." Emily gently reprimanded.

"If you're that egar to eat." Colin joked. "I'll say the blessing now, that's if you don't mind, Josie."

"No," Josie reassured. "Its fine by me."

Colin waited until everyone had bowed their heads, then he gave the blessing. "Lord, we thankyou for this food, may it nourish us and bless the hands that prepared it. Amen"

A series of agreeing "Amens" came from around the table, then they all began to eat their meals.

"What's the plan for tomorrow, Josie?" Jay asked as he passed the plate of potatoes to her.

"Tomorrow is Sunday." Josie said in a mocking tone. "You do realize that, or did you forget?" She gave a little chuckle as she saw his face. "Sorry. I can be a bit sassy at sometimes, I get that from my father. Tomorrow most of the town go to Mrs. Montgomery's gathering out in the forest, or you could go to the Reverends service, held in the saloon."

"Church is held in the saloon?" Kathleen asked, a little surprised.

"Yes, it has been since the church burnt down a few months before Christmas. The school is also held in the saloon, since the church served as the school as well before it burnt."

"What did you do for Christmas, Josie?" Josh asked as he helped himself to another piece of chicken.

"Nothing, Josh. Christmas was forgotten last year. And anyway, I was to busy to miss it." Josie lied, then she decided to change the subject. "I was planning on staying with Abigail tomorrow, so what ever you decided to do, I won't be able to join you."

"I can come with you, if you like." Emily volunteered.

"No, you should spend time with your husband and children. But thank you for offering. I was hoping that maybe Danni might like to come with me though."

"Sure" Danni agreed. "I don't mind. We can get better acquainted. Is it alright if I go with her, Pa?"

Matt nodded. "Its fine with me, Danni. But you'll need to behave yourself. I know you can get into mischief if you don't watch yourself."

"Yes, dad." Danni said mischievously.

"Danni?"

"Yes Dad!"

Josie began to laugh at their little argument, then they both looked at her, asking unspokenly what was so funny. "Sorry. You two can be a little sarcastic as well, I see. Well, now that we've sorted out what's happening, I have another little thing that needs to be sorted. This ranch has never had a name while I've lived here, and I think it needs one now that we're going to be working it. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

"Willow Creek?" Rob gave his opinion.

"Mmm, no. There's a willow creek ranch already a town over, and if I called this place that, I'd get painted with the reputation they have, and its not a good one."

"Sunny Glade?" Danni put her two bobs worth in.

"Not bad. I do like that one." Josie agreed. "Any more?"

"How about Langara?" Josh asked, wide-eyed as he saw Emily walk in with the cake for desert.

"Langara." Josie said the word to see how she liked it. "Where did you hear that?"

"It was the name of Matt's station back in Australia."

"Well, in that case, is it okay for me to name this place that, Matt?"

"Its fine by me." Matt replied as he cut a piece of cake for himself.

"Great, Langara it is then." Josie wiped her face with a serviette. "If you'll excuse me, I have things I need to go do. Night all." She said as she got up and walked out of the room.

"Night, Josie." Colin replied as he passed a piece of cake to Josh.

* * *

The rest of the McGregor's sat at the table quietly, finishing off their supper, when Emily noticed Josh playing with a little metal horse. "Where did you get that, Josh?"

"I found it I our room. There's a huge big box of toys in the cupboard. Michael and I found it." Josh replied, quite proud of himself.

"I did tell him to ask Josie about it first." Michael spoke up.

"Yes, you should have asked her first, Josh. It's the polite thing to do. Maybe there was a reason it was in the cupboard in the first place."

"Alright, I'll ask her in the morning. May I go play now?"

"Yes, you may. But take your plate to the kitchen first please."

"Thanks." Josh got up, put his plate on the kitchen bench, then ran out the back door.

"If everyone is finished, I'll clear the table now." Kathleen said as she stood up and collected Josie's empty plate, then the family handed her their dirty dishes. Emily and Danni stood up to help her. "Its fine, Danni." She acknowledged as Danni picked up an empty bowl. "Emily and I can handle it. You can have the night off. I thought you might want to go and have a look around."

"Great, thanks." Danni said as she put the dish back down. "Come on Colin"

"Coming, coming, sis." He said as Danni started to pull him out of his chair. "We should probably out some wood on the fire first before we go out."

"I'll do it." Danni walked over to the fire and placed a log on it, then as she stood up, she noticed the photo on the mantel and picked it up.

Colin noticed Danni go quite and he walked over to her. "What is it, Danni?"

Danni handed Colin the photo. "Josie must have a brother too, but I wonder where he is. After all, the room Josh and Michael are sharing is a boy's room and still has everything in it. I wonder what the story behind where this boy is..."

"If Josie wants us to know, in time she'll tell us." He said as he put the photo back on the mantel. "She already has enough to deal with her parents dying and an entire family who are no more than strangers moving into her house. Let's make it easier on her Danni, and not pry shall we?"

"Alright, big brother." Danni teased, then se got serious. "I wont pry. I could never imagine what she's been though, like, we lost our mum, but I was to young to remember her much. Then when dad married Kathleen, it took a bit to adjust to that."

"You know, sometimes we don't need to know what someone has been through to be able to help them. Just be a friend to her, Danni and be there to listen if she ever wants to talk about it."

"Okay, I will. You could help her too, after all, you know what it's like to lose someone you love." Danni quickly realized that she shouldn't have said that about his son as she saw the pain come into his eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought James up."

"Its okay, Danni. Its fine. I just need some time, okay." He turned and left the room, leaving Danni inside so that he could collect his thoughts.

* * *

As Colin walked into the stable, he could hear a person talking softly to something. He quietly went into the stall of his horse and began to brush her, trying to collect his thoughts, but still hearing bits and pieces of a conversation going on in the loose box a few stalls down.

"Tomorrow is Ben's birthday, Thowra." Josie said as she put the oats into his manger, sobbing a little. "I wish he was still here, boy."

Thowra brushed Josie's face with his muzzle. "Thanks boy, you always make me feel better. When I see Josh, he reminds me so much of Ben at his age. He has the same hair colour, with the same brown eyes and even the way he talks is the same as Bens. They are so lucky, boy. They have such a big family to watch out for each other. I'll don't belong anywhere now, with no one. They don't know what its like to be lonely, with no one to care about them and make sure your safe. Its not fair that Ben died and I could have stopped it from happening." Josie began to cry again, this time a bit louder.

Colin could hear the pain in Josie's voice, but he knew if he went to comfort her, she would know he'd listened in on her conversation, and it would have been worse for her to know he'd heard it all.

Josie stood for a while, sobbing into Thowra's mane, then she dried her eyes and blew her nose. "At least I have you, Cougar, Wolf and now Abigail. But I don't know what I'd do if I ever any of you now." Thowra whinnied in agreement. "Come on, you've finished your oats now. Let's get you back out with the others."

Colin heard her open the stable door and he saw her leading Thowra out of the stable. When he was sure the coast was clear, he snuck out and went for a walk in the orchid. As he walked down the quite, peaceful path, his thought were in a muddle. How could he help Josie? How could he get over the lose of his son James, and how could he help his wife through it?

* * *

It was nearly four in the morning when Josie was woken up by her nightmare. I t was the same one she'd had the night before, being stuck in the coal mine with no way out, but this time Abigail had died in her arms. She rolled over in bed and cried out, not realizing that she was so close to the edge of the bed, she fell out.

It woke her with a start as she sat up and rubbed her head, relived it was only a dream. She yawned, her heart still ponding in her chest as she tried to calm herself down. Then she felt around for the lantern and matches and lit it, it's light flowing around the room, bringing her peace. She looked at the clock and groaned.

"Time to get up anyway." She said as she stood up. "Might as well get dressed." She again whispered her thoughts out loud. She yawned again as she went to the wardrobe and got out a dress.

After she had changed, she went downstairs and left a note on the kitchen table, telling the McGreogrs she'd gone out to do the chores, and go for a ride, then she softly called for Lassie. Lassie ran in from the kitchen, with Wolf and Kichie beside her. "Hello, you lot." Josie said as she gave them all a pat. "You'll have to stay here today, Lass. Come on Wolf." She opened the door and walked out, Wolf following her.

* * *

By the time that she'd finished the chores, the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon, and Josie had an idea. She called Thowra over from the other horses and jumped on his back. No saddle, no bridle. "Come on, boy, lets ride." She said as she nudged him with her heel. "Stay here, Wolf."

Thowra shook his head, then smoothly glided into a canter, his hooves flining up grass as they jumped the paddock fence. Thowra asked to gallop, and Josie let him, throwing her arms out wide, feeling like she was flying. Thowra turned down a little path that led to the creek, then he jumped it in one strong bound.

Josie turned him with her knee towards the mountains, and they started the steep climb up the side of Ramshard Ridge. When they got to the top, Thowra slid to a stop, rearing and whinnying with excitement from his run. Josie sat speechless at the beauty of the rising sun, then gently she slid off his back and walked to the old tree stump she sat on when she needed time to think.

Thowra followed her, then laid down beside her, resting his head on her lap and she gazed at the sunrise. Together they watched the sun rise over a new day, and Josie's new life with a new direction. She was going to give it the best and all she had to make it work.


End file.
